Senegal appeal date set after Afcon win overturned

What the report says

BBC Sport reports that the Court of Arbitration for Sport has scheduled an 8 October hearing in Senegal’s challenge to the Confederation of African Football’s decision to remove its 2025 Africa Cup of Nations title. The hearing will be held at CAS headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, and will be closed to the public because CAF and the Royal Moroccan Football Federation did not ask for it to be public.

The dispute stems from January’s final, hosted by Morocco, which Senegal initially won 1-0. According to the BBC, Senegal’s players left the pitch after Morocco were awarded a stoppage-time penalty while the game was still goalless. Play was delayed for about 17 minutes before the players returned; Brahim Diaz’s penalty was stopped, and Pape Gueye later scored the extra-time goal that decided the match on the field.

CAF subsequently ruled that Senegal had forfeited the final and changed the result to a 3-0 win for Morocco, making the hosts tournament champions. Senegal filed its appeal with CAS on 25 March, asking the tribunal to overturn CAF’s ruling and restore Senegal as winners of the competition.

The BBC says CAF and the Moroccan federation did not agree to speed up the case, so CAS is following its normal timetable. CAS has not given a date for its final ruling and said the decision will not be issued on the hearing day. The case matters because it will determine whether Morocco keeps the Afcon title or Senegal is reinstated as champion after one of the tournament’s most contentious finals.