BREAKING: ‘Senegal Has Right To Appeal, No Country Will Be Favoured,’ CAF President On AFCON Final Controversy

The CAF President acknowledged the deep controversy surrounding the final, admitting that the events had damaged trust in African football.

The President of the Confederation of African Football Patrice Motsepe has said Senegal retains the right to challenge the controversial ruling that stripped it of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations title, insisting that no country on the continent would receive preferential treatment.

Speaking in a video interview published by CAF which was monitored by SaharaReporters on Wednesday evening, the football body’s president addressed the fallout from the highly disputed AFCON 2025 final between Senegal national football team and Morocco national football team. 

“And I’m told that Senegal is going to appeal, which is very important,” he said. “Every one of the 54 nations in Africa has a right to pursue their appeals and their advance interests, not only at the highest level in Africa, in CAF, but also the highest body, which is the Court of Arbitration for Sport. And we will adhere and respect the decision that’s taken at the highest level.”

The CAF President acknowledged the deep controversy surrounding the final, admitting that the events had damaged trust in African football.

“I’ve been informed of the ruling by the CAF Appeals Board concerning the appeal by Morocco relating to the AFCON-Morocco 2025 final match and I previously expressed my extreme disappointment with the incidences that took place at the final match,” he said.

According to him, the integrity of the sport had been called into question.

“The important thing of what happened in that final match is it undermines the good work that CAF has done over many years to ensure that there’s integrity, that there’s respect, that there’s ethics, that there’s governance, as well as credibility of the results of our football matches.”

He described the fallout as part of a deeper, longstanding credibility crisis.

“The occurrences, the incidence at the final match of the AFCON-Morocco exposers is the work that we are still dealing with concerning the suspicion and distrust. It’s a legacy issue.”

The CAF boss further admitted that distrust in officiating and football governance in Africa did not start with the 2025 final.

“When I became president one of the major concerns was the impartiality, the independence and the respect of referees and match commissioners,” he said. “A lot of good good work has been done but there’s also that continues to be suspicion because it’s a legacy issue.”

“It’s something that has been there for many many years and we consistently deal with that because that’s critically important,” he said.

He said the controversy had again exposed concerns about the independence of CAF’s judicial structures.

“Another important matter that these incidences at the final match brought to the fore is the independence and the respect of our judicial bodies,” he added.

Explaining reforms introduced under his leadership, the CAF President said the selection process for judicial officials had been overhauled.

“We, in choosing the members of our judicial bodies, we followed a different path, different from what had been the case before,” he said. “We invited each member association and we invited every zone, the six regional areas or the six zones in CAF, to give us names of respected judges and respected lawyers.”

He stressed that credibility of decisions remained central to CAF’s reforms.

“It is important that the decisions of our disciplinary board, the CAF disciplinary board and the decisions of the CAF appeals board, is viewed with the respect and integrity that’s very important to us.”

“So if you look at the composition of those bodies they reflect some of the most respected lawyers and judges on the continent.”

Despite these efforts, he admitted that doubts persist.

“But we will still have to deal with this, with the perceptions and the concerns about the integrity. It’s an ongoing issue,” he said.

“We are very clear at CAF that we are enormously committed to ensure that not only in terms of what we do because we’ve implemented best practises, we’ve identified judges and lawyers from every region… to make sure that these are people who have integrity and have a track record.”

The CAF President also pointed to the conflicting rulings by CAF’s internal bodies as evidence of independence.

“And partly the independence is reflected by the decisions that were taken by the two bodies,” he said. “The CAF disciplinary board took one decision. The CAF appeals board took a totally different position.”

He reiterated that fairness across all African nations remains non-negotiable.

“A critical factor is that not a single country in Africa will be treated in a manner that is more preferential or more advantageous or more favourable than any other country on the African continent.”

He added that CAF had already begun internal reviews following the controversial final.

“We take what has happened at the final match in Morocco during the Total Energies CAF Morocco 2025, we take it very, very seriously,” he said. “And we have already started with very important steps to make sure that those areas which have been identified as deficiencies… that the necessary resolutions are passed.”

The CAF President concluded by stressing that public trust, not internal validation, would ultimately determine the legitimacy of CAF’s decisions.

“We have very high standards that we set for ourselves,” he said. “It is important for us that ordinary football supporters and spectators in every one of the 54 countries in Africa, in their judgement, not in CAF’s judgement, regard the decisions of our judicial bodies as fair, with integrity and impartiality.

“And what is equally important that they regard our referees, our VR operators, and our match commissioners as people who are fair and just.”

“And those decisions that are taken reflect the impartiality and independence that’s critically important.”

Background

SaharaReporters had earlier reported that CAF overturned the outcome of the AFCON 2025 final, stripping Senegal of victory and awarding a 3–0 win to Morocco after upholding an appeal filed by the Moroccan football federation.

The decision followed findings that Senegal violated Article 82 of CAF regulations during the match, triggering forfeiture of the game.

The ruling has sparked outrage across the continent, with growing calls for transparency and accountability, while sources indicate that Senegal is preparing to approach the Court of Arbitration for Sport in a bid to overturn the decision.