CAS will not rule on October 8 in Senegal-Morocco AFCON 2025 dispute

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) will not deliver its verdict on October 8 in the dispute between Morocco and Senegal over the Coupe d’Afrique des Nations 2025 title. Fouzi Lekjaa, president of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF), confirmed this in an interview with Jeune Afrique: that date will mark only the first hearing of a procedure that will include several.

« On October 8, there will be the first CAS hearing. It will not be the last. So on October 8, there will be no decision, » Lekjaa said, clarifying that further exchanges between the parties will follow before a final judgment is rendered.

The dispute stems from the AFCON 2025 final, won on the pitch by Senegal. Morocco subsequently appealed to the CAF Appeals Jury, which in March declared the Lions of the Atlas winners of the competition and stripped the title from Senegal. The Senegalese Federation contested this decision before the CAS.

At the heart of the dispute: the collective withdrawal of Senegalese players from the field following the award of a penalty to Morocco in the final minutes of the match. Lekjaa believes this interruption constitutes a violation of the rules of play. He cites in support a recent amendment to FIFA regulations, which now provides for a red card for any player voluntarily leaving the field: « FIFA, just after this event, changed its regulations to say that the player who leaves the field is sanctioned with a red card. That reinforces our position. »

The Moroccan official expressed confidence in the outcome of the procedure, while adopting a legalistic stance: « We do not believe that the law will depart » from the decision already rendered by the CAF. Morocco officially considers itself the reigning African champion pending the CAS’s final verdict.