The Court of Arbitration for Sport will deliver its verdict at the end of November on Senegal’s challenge to the loss of this year’s Africa Cup of Nations crown.
Quick facts
- CAS heard submissions from Senegal, Morocco and the Confederation of African Football in Lausanne on October 8.
- Senegal won January’s final in Rabat 1-0 after extra time, but CAF later awarded Morocco a 3-0 victory.
- The full CAS Award, including its legal reasoning, is due by the end of November 2026.
Senegal are challenging CAF’s decision to name Morocco champions, despite the visitors defeating the host nation after extra time in the January final.
The Lausanne hearing had initially been expected to produce a ruling within a matter of days. CAS has instead opted to publish a full award setting out the decision and its legal basis.
“Preparing that process will take a number of weeks, and the CAS Award is anticipated at the end of November 2026,” the court said.
The dispute stems from Senegal’s 14-minute walk-off late in normal time after the referee awarded a penalty against them. Several Senegal players went back to the dressing room in protest before the team returned and the game continued.
Morocco failed to convert the penalty, taking the final into extra time. Senegal then scored the decisive goal to claim a 1-0 win.
CAF’s Appeal Board removed Senegal’s title two months later, ruling that the walk-off amounted to a forfeiture. It reversed the on-field outcome and recorded the match as a 3-0 win for Morocco.
Senegal lodged their CAS appeal on March 25, although the case was not heard until roughly six months later. Their position is that the referee had final authority over the match and permitted it to be completed.
CAS director general Matthieu Reeb acknowledged the lengthy wait for supporters after the Senegal-Morocco final when speaking outside the hearing earlier this month.
Reeb said he did not expect an immediate outcome, adding that the underlying facts were established and that the panel would focus on procedural and legal questions.
French sports-law specialist Gerald Simon chairs the CAS panel. He is joined by Italian international-law professor Luigi Fumagalli and Ulrich Haas, a Hamburg-based lawyer and law professor at the University of Zurich.
CAS rulings are known as awards and carry the same legal force as judgments issued by national courts. They can be enforced under the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, either through sporting bodies or state courts depending on the case.
