Senegal won the Africa Cup of Nations on the pitch. Whether they keep it is now a matter for Swiss arbitrators.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport confirmed Monday that its ruling on Senegal's appeal — contesting the decision that stripped them of the AFCON title and handed it to Morocco — is expected by the end of November. A hearing was held behind closed doors at CAS headquarters in Lausanne on October 8th, and the panel has begun deliberating.
How we got here
The original January final was already a mess. Senegal beat host nation Morocco 1-0 after extra time, but only after a 15-minute stoppage in which Senegal's players walked off the pitch to protest a penalty being awarded to Morocco in the dying seconds of normal time. The referee eventually got the game going again, the penalty was saved, and Senegal scored the winner.
Story over, right? The referee's decisions are final — that's not opinion, it's explicitly written into the Laws of the Game.
Except in March, the Confederation of African Football's appeals body overturned the result entirely and handed Morocco a 3-0 walkover win. A decision made on the field, upheld by the referee, reversed months later in a committee room. The logic was always going to end up in front of CAS.
What the ruling could mean
CAS has opted for a full written award rather than a short-form ruling — a process that takes longer but carries more legal weight. That choice signals the panel takes the complexity here seriously, and it gives the eventual decision proper grounding if either party wants to push further.
For the betting market, the uncertainty cuts both ways. AFCON qualification and seeding implications could technically shift depending on who officially holds the 2025 title. Any nation with African tournament futures in play should be paying attention to the end of November.
Senegal's players went through 120 minutes of football, extra time, and a hostile crowd to win this. The CAS Award, expected at the end of November 2026, will decide whether any of that actually counted.
