Football fans were stunned when governing body officials awarded the Africa Cup of Nations title to Morocco, overturning Senegal’s victory two months after the chaotic final.
The impact of the decision could spread beyond the game and weaken ties between nations.
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While Moroccan fans took to the streets to celebrate their team’s late success, the decision by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) was met with disbelief in Senegal, with fans and officials denouncing the decision as “unjust”.
Senegal’s government said on Wednesday it would pursue “all appropriate legal avenues” to overturn the decision and called for an international investigation into “suspected corruption” within African football’s governing body.
The Senegalese Football Federation (FSF) announced on Thursday that it has instructed lawyers, apparently following through on its threat to take the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). Such a move could lead to a legal battle lasting up to a year before a decision is reached.
CAF’s appeal board ruled on Tuesday that Senegal forfeited the final by leaving the field of play without the referee’s permission and that Morocco won 3-0 by default.
The game was delayed 14 minutes as most of Senegal’s players and staff returned to their dressing rooms, while Senegalese fans fought with managers behind one goal in protest of a controversial penalty call for Morocco after Senegal had a goal ruled out.
The players returned, Morocco missed a penalty and Senegal won the match 1–0 in extra time.
What are the ties that bind Morocco and Senegal?
Morocco and Senegal have long had close relations based on religion, trade and culture. Tijaniyyah, a Sufi Muslim order, is widely followed in both countries. Moroccan banks and companies invest heavily in Senegal’s finance and agricultural sectors. Cultural exchanges include student events, stays and joint festivals.
But tensions over the final and a decision by CAF’s appeals court to overturn Senegal’s victory have strained relations between the two countries.
Last month, 18 Senegalese fans arrested on hooliganism charges at the final were sentenced by a Moroccan court to up to a year in prison. The Senegalese government has expressed solidarity with Senegalese supporters.
Seydina Issa Leigh Diop, president of the “12th Rhinos,” a fan group for the Senegal national team, told The Associated Press on Thursday that the incidents should not damage relations between Senegal and Morocco.
“However, there are limits: if this continues, it could affect the pride of the Senegalese people to some extent,” Diop said. “If the goal is to maintain friendship, it must be nurtured. Small gestures can have a big impact. These are things we can build on, especially since, during the trial, no cogent argument has justified the continued detention of these supporters.”
Mariama Ndeye, a student from Senegal’s capital Dakar, said the decision has negatively affected her view of Moroccans.
“When everything goes right, they call us their brothers. But when things don’t go their way, they start behaving badly,” Ndeye said.
As Senegal and Morocco have found out, politics and sport are rarely separated
On Wednesday, the Moroccan embassy in Dakar called on Moroccans in Senegal to “demonstrate restraint, vigilance and a sense of responsibility.”
The embassy said, “It is important to remember that, in all the circumstances, this is only a match, the outcome of which should never justify any kind of tension or excessive comments between fraternal people.”
Although the controversy has centered around the football match, bad feelings have spread more generally.
In Casablanca, Ismail Fanani, a home appliance business owner, said he felt like other African countries were against Morocco during the final.
“Honestly, my opinion about Senegal and sub-Saharan Africa changed after that,” he said. “We felt sympathy and helped them because they were immigrants who had struggled to get here. Where once there was sympathy and compassion, now I would treat them the same as they have treated us.”
Mohammed al-Arabi, who works in a grocery store in Casablanca, said he did not celebrate the decision to award the title to Morocco.
“We would have preferred to stay with Senegal because otherwise it would not have felt right,” El Arabi said.
He said, “People here have started to hate Senegalese people. They don’t help them anymore. We used to be like brothers, especially since they are also Muslims like us, but that’s not the case anymore.”
The Senegalese government’s accusation of “suspected corruption” at CAF comes after anger over alleged favoritism towards Morocco, which co-hosts the 2030 World Cup and has invested heavily to become a football superpower.
On Wednesday, CAF president Patrice Motsepe defended the organization against perceptions of bias towards Morocco.
“No country in Africa will be treated in a more preferential, or more advantageous, or more favorable manner than any other country on the African continent,” Motsepe said in a video published on the CAF website.
