CAS Should Confirm Morocco's Africa Cup of Nations 2025 Title, Says Legal Expert

Morocco should retain its 2025 African championship title: that is the analysis of Romain Bizzini, a Paris-based lawyer specializing in sports law, who estimates at 75% the chances of success for Morocco’s position before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

The context is unprecedented. On January 18, 2026, Senegal won the Africa Cup of Nations final thanks to a strike from Pape Gueye. But the Lions of Teranga had left the pitch at 90+8 after a controversial penalty was awarded in favor of Morocco, before returning to witness Brahim Diaz’s missed Panenka. The CAF, through its appeals jury, subsequently stripped Senegal of its title, paving the way for an appeal to the CAS.

It is precisely on regulatory grounds that Bizzini bases his analysis, granted to Spanish newspaper Sport. The Africa Cup of Nations regulations are explicit: “Any team that refuses to play or leaves the pitch before the end of the match without the referee’s permission is considered defeated and permanently eliminated from the competition.” The text provides no provision allowing a match to resume after an unauthorized team withdrawal. A 3-0 victory by default is the sanction mentioned.

The lawyer also emphasizes the very nature of the CAS: the arbitral body based in Lausanne is not intended to call into question the regulations of federations or the laws of the game laid down by IFAB — which notably requires a minimum of seven players on the pitch. Its mission is limited to verifying the proper application of existing texts. “Given that the Court of Arbitration for Sport examines legal questions in the first instance, I believe the chances of success for the Senegalese appeal seem very weak,” concludes Bizzini.

If the CAS decision confirms the CAF’s position, the Senegalese federation will have to return the trophy, which would then be placed at the headquarters of the Moroccan federation, in Salé.