Morocco is crowned the new Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) winner after appeals judges overturned Senegal’s triumph in the final. The Confederation of African Football (CAF) stated that Senegal had briefly forfeited the match and declared runners-up Morocco as the new winners.

At the initial disciplinary hearing after the chaotic end to the AFCON final, CAF imposed $1 million in fines and suspensions for Senegal and Morocco players, as well as the officials. However, the end result of the final was not altered and still mentioned a 1-0 win in favour of Senegal.

After the CAF's latest verdict, the secretary general of the Senegalese Football Federation, Abdoulaye Seydou Sow, stated that they will file an appeal against the CAF's ruling.

Speaking to the public broadcast, Radiodiffusion Television Senegalese, Sow said: “We will not back down. The law is on our side.This decision is a travesty that rests on no legal basis. We felt that the panel was not there to apply the law, but to carry out an order.”

The Royal Moroccan Football Federation also released its own statement following the recent verdict by the appeals judge.

"Its approach has never been intended to challenge the sporting performance of the teams participating in this competition, but solely to request the application of the competition's regulations," the statement read.

"The Federation reaffirms its commitment to respecting the rules, ensuring clarity in the competitive framework, and maintaining stability within African competitions," it added. "It also wishes to commend all the nations that took part in this edition of the AFCON, which has been a major moment for African football."

Besides that, following CAF’s verdict, the case could potentially go to a further appeal and reach the desk of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) located in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Senegal vs Morocco: What happened at the AFCON final ?

On 18 January 2026, Senegal locked horns with Morocco at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium for the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations final. At the end, Senegal defeated Morocco 1-0 in extra time and became the champions of Africa.

However, with the match tied at 0-0 in regulation time, referee Jean-Jacques Ndala awarded a controversial penalty to Morocco, which led to the chaotic ending of the final. The penalty was awarded after VAR’s intervention when defender EL Hadji Malick Diouf fouled Moroccan star Brahim Diaz in the box during a corner.

Pape Thiaw’s teams lost their cool and fearlessly protested against the referee’s decision. This is because just moments before awarding the penalty in favour of Morocco, the referee disallowed a possible match-winning goal from attacker Ismaila Sarr, as the referee spotted a foul on the Moroccan captain Achraf Hakimi.

Following the controversial decision of the referee, the Senegal team, along with their coaching staff, left the field for 17 minutes. The only player who stayed on the pitch was Senegal’s star player, Sadio Mane.

After a lengthy delay, Brahim Diaz stepped up to take the penalty and tried to trick the goalkeeper with a “Panenka” style shot, but in the end, it was easily saved by the goalkeeper. In the end, Pape Gueye scored the match-winner in the 94th minute.

It is reported that Senegal forfeited the match and Morocco were awarded a default 3-0 victory. With both teams not backing out of the fight, only time will tell what the final verdict will be.

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