The President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), Patrice Motsepe, has reportedly arrived in Senegal to meet the country’s president and football authorities over the disputed AFCON title.

The 2025 AFCON final was played on 18 January 2026 at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat, Morocco, between Senegal and Morocco, where the former won by a goal.

The game, which was plagued by several incidents, including disputed refereeing decisions, VAR controversies and crowd disturbances, was later appealed by Morocco. The North Africans won the case after CAF’s Appeals Committee controversially overturned the result, awarding Morocco a 3–0 victory and the title.

The move was met with widespread disapproval and disappointment, with many slamming CAF’s credibility and calling it a“disgrace for Africa.” The Senegalese authorities openly defied the ruling by displaying the trophy in Paris.

Following this, the CAF President Patrice Motsepe has arrived in Senegal in an attempt to quell tensions and clear any misconceptions of bias after the AFCON 2025 title strip.

He is expected to meet the Senegalese Head of State, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, and the Fédération Sénégalaise de Football, Mr Abdoulaye Fall, on the working visit.

Meanwhile, CAF’s statement, which announced the new AFCON title winners, indicated that the reversal was on procedural grounds, with the governing body noting that Morocco’s right to be heard had not been respected during the initial proceedings.

Senegal has since filed an appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sports over the decision.

What exactly happened at the AFCON final, detailed chronologically

The final of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) was nothing short of controversial, chaotic and tense; however, the side widely alleged to be at the centre of it all was Senegal.

This followed Morocco being awarded a penalty after their player, Ayoub El Kaabi, tumbled in the box following contact with Senegal defender Abdou Diallo. The referee initially waved play on, but later intervened after a VAR review.

Following the check, Morocco were awarded a penalty, which clearly upset Senegal’s players, who believed the contact was minimal and that El Kaabi had gone down too easily.

Consequently, they staged a walk-off in protest on the pitch. During this time, some Senegalese supporters attempted to storm the pitch, with some captured throwing objects onto the field, including a chair.

Sadio Mane’s role in calming chaos

Meanwhile, during the walk-off, the intervention of their captain, former Liverpool forward Sadio Mané, persuaded them to return and continue the game. However, many believe their return was not solely due to Mané’s intervention but also influenced by Morocco missing the penalty.

Diaz missed the resulting penalty as he bizarrely clipped a Panenka effort down the middle and straight at Edouard Mendy.

In an interesting turn of events, Pape Gueye notched a goal in stoppage time, giving Senegal a lead in the 94th minute, securing the team their second AFCON title.

Sadio explains the motive behind his action

Following their victory over Morocco, Mane, during an interview with the media, explained that even though the referee’s decision might have been wrong, the most important thing is to respect the game and keep playing, hence his decision to call his teammates back o the pitch to play as football is widely love globally and it will have been unfair to the people watching to see the game called off over one disputed call.

He said, “When they decided to go out and not play, I stayed and asked some people, ‘What do you think about this? Is it a good idea or not?’ Then I decided to go and bring everyone back to the pitch. I think it is the best thing to do.

“Because this is just football, I think the referee sometimes can make mistakes. People around the world are watching. It could be a penalty or not, but that is not the most important thing. What matters is respecting the game. It is not fair to stop a match like this.”

Mané went on to reflect on the incident that generated headlines around the world, saying, “Football is something special. The world was watching, and the world loves football. I believe football is about enjoyment, so we must give the game a good image.”

“I think it would be crazy not to play this game because what, the referee gave a penalty and we go out of the game? I think that would be the worst thing, especially in African football. I'd rather lose than have this kind of thing happen to our football.

“I think it's really bad. Football should not stop for even ten minutes, but what can we do? We have to accept that we did, but the good thing is that we came back and we played the game and what happened, happened.”

19 soccer fans were sentenced to prison over charges of hooliganism at the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) final between Morocco and Senegal.

The recently concluded regional tournament had been marred by chaos and extreme hooliganism, with players, coaches, and fans invading the pitch.

Amid the chaos, some fans were arrested by the Moroccan police, 18 of whom were Senegalese and one French.

After months of detention, they were arraigned before the court on Thursday, February 19. Following a hearing that lasted more than five hours, the presiding judge ruled that the fans, 18 Senegalese and a French national, were guilty of more than half a dozen charges, including damaging sporting facilities and committing violence during a sporting event.

Out of the 19, 11 were sentenced to one year in prison and handed a $550 fine. Four were sentenced to six months and given a $218 fine. The remaining four were sentenced to three months and a $130 fine. These were disclosed by lawyer Naima El Guellaf while speaking to The Associated Press.

According to reports, one of the defendants fainted after hearing the sentence, while the others sat unbothered and defiant after being ordered to rise from the defendant’s bench to make way through the small door leading to the holding cells. Family members, visibly shaken, insisted their relatives were innocent.

Attorneys said they planned to appeal the decision, which they viewed as severe.