Ndiaye accuses Africa Cup of Nations 2025 final referees of match-fixing from kick-off

Iliman Ndiaye has put into words what many Senegal supporters were thinking quietly: the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations final between Senegal and Morocco was, according to him, tainted from its opening minutes. In an interview with France Football, the Senegal striker claims to have felt “strange refereeing decisions” from the start of the match, and mentions doubts that arose well before kick-off.

“I’ll be frank, I had doubts about how the match would unfold, things happened during the pre-match period, players feeling unwell, etc. In short, I was asking myself a lot of questions,” he said. A statement that comes in an already explosive context: while Senegal won the final 1-0 on the pitch, the Confederation of African Football awarded the title to Morocco by default after several Senegal players left the field following the awarding of a penalty to the Morocco Lions in the final minutes of regular time.

Ndiaye does not mince words about the final sequence. “I’m not even talking about the surreal sequence at the end of regular time between our disallowed goal — we still wonder why — and the penalty that came out of nowhere for Morocco. I felt a rage building in me like never before. The feeling of injustice was too strong, we left the field for a few minutes.” It was Sadio Mané’s intervention that convinced the players to return to the pitch. Brahim Díaz ultimately missed his penalty, and Senegal secured the victory.

Despite the CAF’s decision, Ndiaye considers himself African champion. “I feel like an African champion, regardless of what the authorities decide. It’s the truth of the pitch that should speak. And it was Senegal who won on the pitch,” he insisted.

The final outcome of this final remains pending a decision from the Court of Arbitration for Sport, seized by the Senegal Football Federation after the CAF appeals jury’s verdict. A legal outcome that, whatever it may be, apparently will not be enough to close the debate.