AFCON 2025 title "cannot be taken away" from Senegal, says FSF

The Senegalese Football Federation (FSF) said Thursday that the Africa Cup title cannot be taken away from Senegal, following a decision by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to strip the country of its title earlier this week.

CAF defended its decision Wednesday, which hinged on a moment during the chaotic Africa Cup of Nations final when Senegalese players walked off the field.

Though the players returned, CAF ruled this week that they had violated the rules of the tournament and thus forfeited the game.

The title was given to Morocco instead, and the decision has been met with widespread controversy.

The FSF called the decision “unfair, unprecedented, and unacceptable”.

Support from Senegal's Olympic and Sports Committee

"We know very well that from a legal standpoint, from a legal standpoint, Senegal cannot lose this match by forfeit, and we cannot take this title away from Senegal,” said Abdoulaye Fall, the federation’s president.

Fall also addressed the Senegalese soccer fans that remain in detention in Morocco following the match, where they were arrested and later charged with damaging sporting facilities and committing violence during a sporting event after they tried to storm the field.

He said that though those fans are not officially under the soccer federation’s responsibility, the federation was providing them legal support.

“We are going to fight for them to be released and for them to come back to us,” he said.

Referring to the Court of Arbitration for Sport by its French acronym, TAS, the secretary general of the Senegalese National Olympic and Sports Committee Omar Diagne said his organization was offering legal support to the football federation.

“The Olympic Committee is at your disposal so that some of our lawyers who know a lot about sports law can join the pool of lawyers that you have already established, so that today we can fight the battle at TAS (Court of Arbitration for Sport) so that victory can be returned to Senegal. And of that, we are sure and we are certain. God willing, TAS will rule in our favor,” he said.