Morocco have been declared the winners of the 2025 AFCON after the CAF Appeal Board overturned Senegal’s 1-0 extra-time victory in the final.
In their announcement, CAF said Senegal’s conduct in the match fell under Articles 82 and 84 of the competition regulations, and ruled that the team had forfeited the final.
The decision rewrites the outcome of the January final in Rabat, where Senegal initially beat Morocco after a chaotic finish to normal time. With the score still 0-0, Senegal’s players left the field in protest after the referee awarded Morocco a stoppage-time penalty following a VAR review.
After a lengthy delay, play resumed, Brahim Diaz missed the penalty, and Pape Gueye later scored the winner in extra time.
CAF said Morocco’s appeal was admissible and upheld it in full on the central issue of the result of the AFCON final. The Appeal Board also set aside the earlier CAF Disciplinary Board decision and found that Senegal, through the conduct of its team, had breached Article 82 before applying Article 84 to award Morocco a 3-0 result.
The ruling also addressed several disciplinary matters tied to the final. CAF partially upheld Morocco’s appeal regarding Ismael Saibari, confirming misconduct but reducing his punishment to a two-match suspension, with one match suspended, and cancelling a $100,000 fine.
The board also reduced Morocco’s fine over the ball boys incident to $50,000, upheld a separate $100,000 fine for interference around the VAR review area, and cut the fine for the laser-pointer incident to $10,000.
The reversal closes one of the most extraordinary finals in AFCON history with an even more extraordinary ending. Senegal celebrated the title on the night. Two months later, CAF has reassigned it to Morocco.