AFCON Title Saga: CAS to hear Senegal’s appeal against Morocco

The long-running dispute over the winner of the Africa Cup of Nations will move to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) as the sports tribunal hears Senegal’s appeal against the decision to strip them of the title and award it to hosts Morocco.

According to Reuters, a CAS panel in Lausanne will hear arguments from Senegal, Morocco, and the Confederation of African Football (CAF), with Senegal seeking to be reinstated as champions after CAF’s Appeal Board overturned their 1-0 victory in the final.

Senegal originally defeated Morocco 1-0 after extra time in the final in Rabat, but the result was later overturned after CAF ruled that Senegal had forfeited the match by leaving the pitch without the referee’s authorisation. The incident occurred late in regulation time after a penalty was awarded against Senegal.

Senegal’s players walked off the pitch for about 14 minutes, with several of them returning to the dressing room in protest before they eventually resumed play. Morocco failed to convert the penalty and the match went into extra time, where Senegal scored the winning goal.

Two months later, CAF’s Appeal Board ruled in Morocco’s favour, changing the result to a 3-0 victory for the hosts and declaring Morocco champions. Senegal lodged their appeal with CAS on March 25 and are now seeking to overturn CAF’s decision.

“After the hearing, the panel will start its deliberations. At this stage, CAS cannot state when a final decision will be rendered but it will not be on the date of the hearing,” CAS said in a statement.

The hearing will take place behind closed doors before a three-member panel presided over by French civil rights expert Professor Gerald Simon, with Italian international law professor Luigi Fumagalli and Germany-based lawyer and professor Ulrich Haas as members.

A major issue before the panel will be the interpretation of CAF’s tournament regulations, which state that a team that “refuses to play or leaves the ground before the regular end of the match without the authorisation of the referee” shall be considered the loser and eliminated from the competition.

Senegal is expected to argue that the regulation must be interpreted strictly and that their temporary departure from the field cannot be considered an abandonment of the match.

Morocco, however, is expected to argue that a team that leaves the field without the referee’s authorisation must be considered the loser and eliminated, even if its departure was temporary.

CAS has reiterated that it will not announce its final decision on the day of the hearing, with the ruling to be delivered at a later date.