The long-running dispute over the winner of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) is set to move to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which will hear 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). Senegal is seeking to have its victory in the final reinstated after CAF’s Appeal Board overturned the result.
Senegal initially defeated Morocco 1-0 after extra time in the final in Rabat. However, CAF later ruled that Senegal had forfeited the match after its players left the pitch without the referee’s authorisation following a penalty awarded to Morocco late in regulation time.
The Senegalese players were off the pitch for about 14 minutes, with some reportedly returning to the dressing room in protest before eventually resuming the match. Morocco failed to convert the penalty, and the game proceeded to 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 the champions. Senegal subsequently filed an appeal with CAS on March 25, 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,” the sports tribunal said in a statement.
The closed-door hearing will be conducted by a three-member panel chaired by French civil rights expert Professor Gerald Simon. Italian international law professor Luigi Fumagalli and Germany-based lawyer and professor Ulrich Haas will serve as the other panel members.
A key issue before the panel will be the interpretation of CAF’s tournament regulations, which stipulate that a team that “refuses to play or leaves the ground before the regular end of the match without the authorisation of the referee” is considered the loser and eliminated from the competition.
Senegal is expected to argue that the provision should be applied strictly and that its players’ temporary departure from the pitch did not amount to abandoning the match.
Morocco, on the other hand, is expected to maintain that leaving the field without the referee’s authorisation constitutes grounds for forfeiture and elimination, regardless of how long the team was absent.
CAS has confirmed that it will not issue its ruling on the day of the hearing. The final decision will be announced at a later date.
