CAS to hear Senegal's appeal against AFCON final technical defeat

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has registered an appeal filed by the Senegalese Football Federation (FSF) against the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF).

Idman.Biz reports that the appeal concerns the decision issued by CAF on March 17, 2026, by which the Senegalese national team was declared to have lost its final match against Morocco in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) by a score of 3-0. Senegal initially defeated Morocco 1-0 in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) final.

The appeal, registered by CAS on March 25, 2026, seeks to have the CAF decision set aside and to have the FSF declared the winner of the tournament. The Federation also requests that the appeal be suspended until the full grounds of the CAF decision are published. The decision of March 17 only contained the operative part of the CAS Appeal Panel’s ruling.

An Arbitral Panel of CAS will be appointed to hear the case and, following that, a procedural calendar will be established. According to the CAS Rules, the appellant has 20 days to file its appeal brief with legal arguments, following which the respondents have an additional 20 days to file their answer. At this stage of the proceedings, it is not possible to predict the procedural timelines or the date of a hearing, taking into consideration the FSF’s request for a stay of the proceedings.

"CAS is ideally placed to resolve disputes such as these with specialized and independent arbitrators. We understand that teams and fans want to know the final decision as quickly as possible, and we will ensure that the arbitration proceeds as quickly as possible, while respecting the right of all parties to a fair hearing,” said Matthieu Reeb, CAS Director General.

CAS will issue an update once a hearing is fixed. The information about ongoing processes is kept confidential.