Prominent former federal lawmaker Shehu Sani has issued a scathing rebuke of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) following the governing body’s decision to retroactively strip Senegal of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations title. On Tuesday evening, the CAF Appeal Board formally declared Morocco the new champions of the tournament, a ruling that effectively nullifies Senegal’s victory on the field. The board’s verdict rests on the determination that the Senegalese squad technically forfeited the final match when they briefly vacated the pitch in protest of a contentious refereeing decision.
The controversy centers on a chaotic sequence during the final where the match official awarded a disputed penalty to the Moroccan hosts. Encouraged by their technical staff, the Senegalese players walked off the field in a display of collective dissent, leaving only captain Sadio Mané on the turf. Mané eventually successfully mediated the situation, convincing his teammates to return and finish the encounter. Despite the interruption, Morocco failed to convert the penalty, and Senegal ultimately secured a 1–0 victory to claim the trophy—a result that has now been replaced by a 3–0 walkover in favor of Morocco.
Sani, a vocal commentator on continental affairs, utilized his platform on X (formerly Twitter) to characterize the administrative intervention as a “daylight robbery” that prioritizes boardroom politics over athletic merit. He suggested that the ruling sets a perilous trend for the future of the sport in Africa, specifically criticizing the rewarding of a host nation that had been beaten fairly during active play.
Expressing his indignation, Sani posted:
“Senegal won the AFCON on the pitch but was snatched by CAF in the Boardroom; that’s unconscionable and a dangerous precedent in African football. The fact that the Senegalese team walked out in protest and returned to play till the final whistle doesn’t warrant this afterthought daylight robbery. They just want to reward Morocco for hosting and losing.”
The ruling has ignited a firestorm of debate across the continent, with many questioning the proportionality of the punishment given that the match reached its natural conclusion. As the football world reacts to this unprecedented shift in tournament history, the pressure mounts on CAF to justify a decision that many, including Sani, view as an affront to the integrity of the game. For Senegal, the loss of their continental crown in a committee room represents a bitter conclusion to what was an arduous journey to the final in Rabat.
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