The Confederation of African Football (CAF) might have decided to strip Senegal of their triumph as 2025 AFCON Champions, but Senegalese football legend El Hadji Diouf insists the Lions of Teranga won the coveted title fair and square.
Diouf believes football games should be determined on the pitch and not elsewhere.
“If you truly know football, you will understand that games and trophies are won on the field and nowhere else. That is the way football has always been, and that is the way it will remain,” he said while speaking to Telecom Asia.
The 2025 AFCON final between Morocco and Senegal was marred with controversy towards the end, leading to a temporary halt of the game with the Senegalese players moving off the pitch.
Diouf was at the Prince Moulay Abdallah Stadium and played a crucial role in persuading the players to return to the pitch.
CAF last week announced it had stripped the title from Senegal, awarding the game 3-0 to Morocco by forfeiture, a decision Diouf doesn’t agree with and backs Senegal’s move to seek legal action elsewhere.
“ Listen, this is simple. The Senegalese Football Federation already knows what we will do, and that is the right process for everyone who understands football,” he added.
On Wednesday, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) confirmed receipt of Senegal’s appeal regarding the CAF decision.
In their appeal to CAS, Senegal seeks that the decision by CAF is set aside and the former is reinstated as AFCON 2025 Champions.
“A CAS Arbitral Panel will be appointed to consider this matter. Following this, a procedural calendar will be established. In accordance with CAS procedural rules, an Appellant has twenty days to file an appeal brief with legal arguments, and the Respondents then have a further twenty days to submit an answer containing a statement of defence. At this early stage of proceedings and considering the FSF request to suspend deadlines, it is not possible to anticipate a procedural timeline and to indicate when a hearing will be scheduled,” reads a statement from CAS.
Matthieu Reeb, CAS Director General, stated that they are perfectly equipped to resolve this type of dispute, with the assistance of expert and independent arbitrators.
