Former French footballer and coach Claude Le Roy, on the sidelines of the Africa Cup of Nations match between Algeria and the Democratic Republic of Congo at the Moulay-Abdellah Stadium in Rabat, January 6, 2026. GABRIEL BOUYS / AFP
Two months after the final whistle of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), the appeals jury of the Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF) stripped Senegal of its title on Tuesday, March 17, and awarded it to Morocco, even though Morocco had lost (1-0) in extra time. The governing body justified its decision by referring to AFCON regulations, which state that if a team "refuses to play or leaves the pitch before the official end of the match without the referee's permission, it will be considered to have lost and will be permanently eliminated from the ongoing competition."
On January 18, several Senegalese players temporarily left the pitch to protest a referee's decision. Shortly after disallowing a Senegal goal, the referee awarded Morocco a penalty in stoppage time of the second half, which Moroccan winger Brahim Diaz ultimately missed. Claude Le Roy, the former coach of Senegal, Cameroon, Ghana and Togo, reflects for Le Monde on the decision by CAF's appeals jury.
