African football chief will ‘respect’ CAS decision on AFCON final row

‘I will respect and implement the CAS decision,’ Patrice Motsepe says amid turbulent times in African football.CAF President Patrice Motsepe holds the Africa Cup of Nations trophy as he walks alongside FIFA President Gianni Infantino during the presentation after the tournament final at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat, Morocco on January 18 [File: Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters]Published On 29 Mar 2026Confederation of African Football (CAF) President Patrice Motsepe says he will “respect” the decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Senegal’s appeal against being stripped of their Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) title.“I will respect and implement the CAS decision. My personal opinion regarding the matter is irrelevant,” Motsepe told reporters in Cairo on Sunday.The Senegal appeal came after the CAF appeals body overturned a 1-0 win by Senegal over hosts Morocco in the AFCON final last month.Many Senegalese players, head coach Pape Thiaw, and his staff walked off the pitch in Rabat after Morocco were awarded an added-time penalty.After they returned, Morocco’s Brahim Diaz missed the penalty. And Senegal’s Pape Gueye scored in extra time to win the title decider.A CAF disciplinary committee later fined various figures from both teams, but did not alter the result.Morocco then appealed, and were awarded a 3-0 victory. Motsepe stressed that the appeal board consists of independent judges and lawyers.When Senegal played Peru in a 2026 World Cup warm-up in Paris on Saturday, they paraded the Cup of Nations trophy.Senegal then played in shirts with two stars – one for their first Cup of Nations triumph in 2022 and the other for their disputed February victory.Motsepe said that he would visit Senegal and Morocco, without giving dates, to stress the importance of “working together to grow African football” and that CAF would implement changes and improvements ⁠to its statutes and ⁠regulations to ensure that the farcical scenes are not repeated.The CAF president said ⁠the changes would strengthen trust and confidence in its referees, VAR operators and judicial bodies, but did not give concrete details.A statement said CAF “is implementing changes and improvements to their statutes and regulations that will strengthen trust and confidence in [African] referees, VAR operators and judicial bodies.“These changes and improvements to the statutes and regulations will also ensure that the incidents that took place at the final… do not happen again.”Controversial figure Veron Mosengo-Omba quits CAFMotsepe later announced that Nigeria-born CAF official Samson Adamu would become the caretaker general secretary of the Cairo-based organisation in place of retiring Veron Mosengo-Omba.Mosengo-Omba, a former FIFA official born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, has reached the mandatory retirement age of 66 for CAF staff and resigned after repeated calls for his removal at a turbulent time for the game in the continent.There has been ⁠a swell of recent criticism of his staying on as general secretary well past the organisation’s mandatory retirement age of 63, largely on social media but also from members of CAF’s executive committee.“After over 30 years of an international professional career dedicated to promoting an ideal form of football that brings people together, educates, and creates opportunities for hope, I have decided to step down from my ‌position as Secretary General of CAF to devote myself to more personal projects,” Mossengo-Omba said in a statement.“Now that I have been able to dispel the suspicions that some people have gone to great lengths to cast on me, I can retire with peace of mind and without constraint, leaving the CAF more prosperous than ever,” he added.Mossengo-Omba has been a divisive figure at CAF, accused by some employees ⁠of creating a toxic atmosphere at the workplace, although an investigation after staff complaints cleared him of any wrongdoing.The 66-year-old is of Congolese origin but a Swiss citizen and former FIFA employee who was a university friend of FIFA President Gianni Infantino.Although the statement said he was retiring, Mossengo-Omba’s statement ⁠was contradicted by Motsepe.“He told me he has been asked by the DR Congo president to go and help with football development in that country,” said ⁠Motsepe.