AFCON 2025: will CAF withdraw the trophy from Senegal?

Finger-pointed at due to the incidents that tainted the 2025 CAN final, Senegal could lose its title while CAF announced the opening of an investigation to shed light on these deplorable events.

Senegal won on Sunday night its second Africa Cup of Nations after their 1-0 victory over Morocco in the CAN 2025 final. A highly contested match that was unfortunately tainted by regrettable incidents. The decisive moment came when the match referee, Jean-Jacques Ndala, controversially awarded a penalty to the Atlas Lions for a foul on Brahim Diaz.

Ndala’s decision provoked the indignation of the Senegalese players, who felt wronged not only by the blown penalty, but also by his earlier decision to disallow their goal due to a foul on Achraf Hakimi. The Lions of Teranga’s players then chose to leave the field before being urged to return by their teammate Sadio Mané.

Will CAF strip the trophy from Senegal?

Could the Senegalese players’ withdrawal from the field cost them their title? According to CAF’s Articles 82 and 83, “if, for any reason, a team withdraws from the competition or fails to appear for a match, or refuses to play or leaves the field before the end of regulation time without the referee’s permission, it will be considered the loser and will be definitively eliminated from the competition in progress.”

“The team that breaches Articles 82 and 83 will be definitively excluded from the competition. It loses the match 3-0. If the opposing team was leading by a more advantageous score at the time of the stoppage, the score will be maintained,” adds Article 84. Article 85 goes further: “The team that breaches the provisions of Articles 82 and 83 will be excluded from the tournament.“

“If a team refuses to play a match or to continue a match that it has started, it will be fined a minimum of twenty thousand US dollars (a little over 17,000 euros) and will, in principle, lose the match by forfeit (…) In the most serious cases, the team will also be disqualified from the ongoing competition. This is subject to the provisions of the competition regulations“, details Article 148.

If we stick to these CAF provisions, Senegal could have lost the match on a walkover. Nevertheless, it should be noted that some players stayed on the field, such as Sadio Mané. It was, moreover, the captain of the Lions of Teranga who urged his teammates to return to resume the fight. In any case, CAF, which has firmly condemned these incidents, announced the opening of an investigation. While it is unlikely that the African governing body will strip the trophy from the Senegalese, Patrice Motsepe’s administration could impose a heavy fine on the Lions of Teranga. Can’t wait for the verdict!