The Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced the decisions of the Appeals Committee regarding the events of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations final in Morocco, which witnessed widespread controversy during the past period.
The Appeals Committee decided to uphold Morocco’s 3-0 victory over Senegal, in accordance with Article 84 of the tournament regulations. This decision came after Senegal was found to have violated the regulations during the final match.
CAF explained that the Appeals Committee accepted the appeal submitted by the Royal Moroccan Football Federation in both form and substance. At the same time, it overturned the previous Disciplinary Committee decision, thus confirming the Moroccan national team’s right to win the match.
The committee confirmed that Senegal’s conduct fell under Articles 82 and 84 of the Africa Cup of Nations regulations. It noted that the Senegalese Football Federation violated the rules, thus warranting the penalty of forfeiting the match and awarding the victory to Morocco.
Regarding individual sanctions, the committee decided to amend the penalty imposed on Ismail Saïbari, a player on the Moroccan national team, reducing his suspension to two matches in CAF competitions, with only one match to be served. The $100,000 fine previously imposed on him was also rescinded.
The decisions also addressed a number of incidents related to the match, with the Appeals Committee acknowledging the Moroccan Federation’s responsibility for the ball boys’ actions, while reducing the fine to $50,000.
In the same context, the committee decided to uphold the $100,000 fine imposed on the Moroccan Federation due to the incident of interference in the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) review area, while rejecting the appeal submitted regarding it.
The committee also reduced the fine for the laser incident to $10,000, after partially accepting the appeal.
The African Union concluded its statement by rejecting all other requests and appeals submitted in this regard, thus officially closing the crisis file after a series of decisive decisions.
What happened in the final match?
The final match witnessed controversial moments in its final minutes, after the referee awarded a penalty kick to the Moroccan team, which prompted the Senegalese team to withdraw from the field in protest against the decision, before reversing course and resuming the match.
Brahim Diaz missed the penalty kick, extending the match into extra time, during which the Senegalese team managed to score a goal that decided the title on the field, before CAF’s decisions later decided the result in favor of Morocco.
