The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has fixed October 8 to hear Senegal’s appeal against CAF’s decision awarding the 2025 AFCON title to Morocco.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has scheduled the hearing of Senegal’s appeal against the decision stripping the country of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations title for October 8, with the proceedings to take place behind closed doors at the court’s headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.
The confirmation was contained in a statement issued by CAS on Friday.
What the appeal is seeking
CAS set out the full scope of the case and what Senegal’s football federation is asking the court to decide.
“CAS confirms a hearing has been scheduled for the procedure between the Senegalese Football Federation (FSF) against the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) concerning the final of the Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025 (AFCON 2025),” the statement reads.
“Registered by CAS on 25 March 2026, the FSF appeal seeks to set aside a CAF decision declaring that the Senegal national team forfeited the AFCON 2025 final and recording the Moroccan national team as the winners of the match by 3-0. The appeal requests that CAS declare the FSF winners of AFCON 2025.“
CAS clarified that the final ruling will not be delivered on the day of the hearing and said it could not indicate when the decision would be rendered.
How Senegal lost the title
On March 17, the CAF Appeals Board stripped Senegal of the 2025 AFCON title and named Morocco the champions, ruling that Senegal had breached Articles 82 and 84 of the AFCON regulations after several of its players walked off the pitch to their dressing room in protest of a stoppage-time penalty awarded to the host nation.
Although Senegal returned to the pitch and won the match in extra time, CAF’s disciplinary process declared the result forfeited and awarded the trophy to Morocco by a 3-0 scoreline.
A week after the CAF Appeals Board ruling, CAS confirmed that the Senegalese Football Federation had filed a formal appeal on March 25. The case pits the FSF against both CAF and the Royal Moroccan Football Federation as respondents.
The outcome of the October 8 hearing will determine whether Senegal reclaims a title their players believed they had won on the pitch, or whether Morocco’s CAF-awarded championship is upheld as final. The case has broader implications for how African football’s governing body handles player protests and referee disputes during knockout matches, with the walk-off incident exposing a gap between on-field conduct regulations and the extraordinary circumstances that can arise from controversial officiating decisions in high-stakes finals.
Senegal coach Pape Thiaw, who ordered the players off the pitch that night in Morocco, was dismissed by the FSF following the country’s early exit from the 2026 FIFA World Cup in July, meaning the appeal will be argued under new leadership, with the incoming technical crew inheriting both the legal battle and the task of rebuilding the squad ahead of the next qualifying cycle.
