The Albany Gazette - Senegal stripped of AFCON title, Morocco declared champions

Several Senegalese players had walked off the pitch in Rabat on January 18 in protest when the host nation were awarded a penalty late in second-half stoppage time.

After Senegal's players eventually returned, Morocco missed the penalty and Pape Gueye went on to score the goal in extra time that gave his nation a 1-0 victory in the final.

CAF said that having studied Morocco's appeal, "the Senegal national team is declared to have forfeited the match," and the result was "officially recorded as 3-0" in favour of Morocco.

The CAF Appeals Committee justified its decision by applying Articles 82 and 84 of AFCON Regulations, which state that if a team "refuses to play or leaves the pitch before the scheduled end of the match it will be considered the loser and will be definitively eliminated from the competition".

The Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) said in a statement its appeal "was never intended to contest the sporting performance of the teams participating in this competition, but solely to request the application of the competition regulations".

"The Federation reaffirms its commitment to respecting the rules, to the clarity of the competitive framework, and to the stability of African competitions," the statement added.

Minutes before the end of the match, some Senegalese supporters attempted a pitch invasion, while Senegal's players halted the game for nearly 20 minutes to protest the late penalty awarded to Morocco.

The controversial penalty was awarded by Congolese referee Jean-Jacques Ndala right at the end of the allotted eight added minutes in normal time following a VAR check for a challenge on Diaz by El Hadji Malick Diouf.

Brahim Diaz could have won the trophy for Morocco with the spot-kick in the 24th minute of added time at the end of normal time.

But Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy easily saved the weak attempted 'Panenka' chip by the Real Madrid winger, who was clearly distracted by the long delay that followed the penalty award.

The game at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium then went to extra time, and Gueye's brilliant 94th-minute strike handed them the title.

The decisions of the CAF Appeals Committee can be appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport within ten days.

At the end of January, CAF imposed a series of disciplinary sanctions, including fines amounting to several hundred thousand euros, on the federations of both countries for unsportsmanlike conduct and violations of fair play principles.

The appeal trial of 18 Senegalese supporters, imprisoned since the final and sentenced to prison terms ranging from three months to one year for "hooliganism," which was scheduled to take place on Monday, has been postponed until March 30.

(W.Walker--TAG)