Senegal to appeal decision to award AFCON title to Morocco

Morocco were awarded the 2025 AFCON title following an appeal to CAF regarding Senegal’s walk-off protest in final.Senegal ‌have condemned the decision to strip them of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) title, labelling ⁠it “unfair, unprecedented, and unacceptable”, ⁠and saying it casts a shadow over African football.“The Senegalese Football Federation denounces this unfair, unprecedented, and unacceptable decision, which casts a shadow over African football,” it said ⁠in a statement on Wednesday.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4World Baseball Classic: Underdogs Venezuela stun USA to win maiden titlelist 2 of 4Vinicius Jr scores twice as Real Madrid knock Man City out of UCL last 16list 3 of 4Liverpool’s Slot faces Galatasaray in potentially tenure-defining UCL tielist 4 of 4Gavaskar links Sunrisers signing of Pakistan’s Abrar to Indian deathsend of list“To defend its rights and the interests of ⁠Senegalese football, the federation will initiate an appeal as soon as possible before the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne,” it said.Morocco were declared African champions on Tuesday after the Confederation of African Football’s (CAF’s) Appeals Board upheld their protest and ⁠found Senegal’s walk-off protest during the final on January 18 were grounds for them to be disqualified and the match result declared 3-0 in favour of the hosts.Senegal won the final 1-0 in Rabat ⁠with an extra-time goal, but not before staging a 14-minute walk-off after a penalty was awarded against them in stoppage time at the end of the regulation 90 minutes.The protest was instigated by coach Papa Bouna Thiaw, subsequently handed a lengthy ban, and saw Senegal’s veteran striker Sadio Mane emerge as a hero ‌as he attempted to get his teammates back onto the field.Once Senegal returned to the pitch, the referee allowed play to continue with Morocco squandering the last-gasp penalty, and the encounter then went to extra time, with midfielder Pape Gueye netting the 94th-minute winner.