Confederation of African Football (CAF) President Dr. Patrice Motsepe has publicly defended the integrity of the CAF’s judicial bodies following the highly controversial decision to strip Senegal of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) title and award it to Morocco on Wednesday.
This came after CAF made global headlines this week when it overturned Senegal’s 1-0 on-field victory from the January AFCON final.
CAF then awarded a 3-0 forfeit win to Morocco after Senegalese players temporarily walked off the pitch to protest a late VAR penalty decision.
“I have been informed of the ruling by the CAF Appeals Board concerning the appeal by Morocco relating to the AFCON 2025 final match,” Motsepe stated. He expressed his deep disappointment over the chaotic scenes that took place in the final, saying that such incidents threaten to undermine years of progress in establishing integrity, ethics, and credible governance in African football.
CAF president acknowledged that suspicion of referees and match commissioners remains a challenging “legacy issue” across the continent.
Motsepe highlighted that CAF’s current judicial panels are strictly independent, comprising highly respected legal experts sourced from across Africa’s 54 member associations.
He pointed out that this independence is exactly why different bodies reached different conclusions, the CAF Disciplinary Board initially allowed the match result to stand, while the Appeals Board later overturned it entirely based on the walk-off.
Motsepe also confirmed that he expects Senegal to escalate the dispute as they have also filed their appeal following the decision.
“I am told that Senegal is going to appeal, which is very important. Every one of the 54 nations in Africa has a right to pursue their appeals. We will adhere to and respect the decision that is taken at the highest level,” Motsepe assured.
Dr Motsepe further promised that internal reviews are underway to fix the administrative deficiencies exposed by the final.
He firmly rejected any suggestions of bias, stating that no single country will ever receive preferential treatment and that the ultimate goal is for ordinary supporters to view CAF’s decisions as entirely fair and impartial.
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