FOOTBALL - The African Mirror

Apr

18

2026

Stanley Nwabali tipped for lucrative Kaizer Chiefs switch over Europe dream

FOOTBALL

FORMER Nigerian and Moroka Swallows goalkeeper Peterside Idah says he would have no problem seeing Stanley Nwabali join Kaizer Chiefs, but believes the Super Eagles shot-stopper is good enough to secure a move to Europe. Nwabali is expected to decide on his future this summer after spending the last few months without a club. The 29-year-old has never played outside Africa, having started his career in the Nigerian Premier Football League before moving to South Africa. In the past, he was linked with English side Crystal Palace and a host of Saudi Arabian clubs, but those speculations have since cooled without…

Apr

16

2026

By ABDOULAYE SAKHO

Afcon controversy: what a sports law specialist says about Senegal being stripped of the title

FOOTBALL

TWO months after the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) final, which was won by Senegal in January 2026, the appeal board of the Confederation of African Football (Caf) decided to strip them of the title and give it instead to their opponents, Morocco. This was because the Senegalese team had walked off the pitch for about 10 minutes. CAF’s ruling is based on Articles 82 and 84 of the African football body’s regulations. It goes against the referee’s decision to resume play and see the match through to its conclusion. What does sports law say on this matter? And…

Apr

15

2026

By The African Mirror

Keagan Dolly tipped for shock Kaizer Chiefs return

FOOTBALL

CAPE Town City FC and Bafana Bafana forward Keagan Dolly is likely to return to Kaizer Chiefs at the conclusion of the ongoing 2025/26 domestic season. Dolly to Chiefs? SportsBoom.co.za has learned that former Kaizer Chiefs captain Keagan Dolly is likely to return to Naturena next season, to bolster the team's ambitious turnaround. Dolly spent three seasons in the gold and black colours of Kaizer Chiefs between July 2021 and June 2024, where he carved a big name for himself. During those three seasons, Dolly managed to become the highest earning footballer in the country, as he became an important…

Apr

03

2026

By SPORTS CORRESPONDENT

Roar of the Leopards: Congo back on football’s biggest stage after 52-year exile

FOOTBALL

IT came in the 100th minute, in the rain-drenched dark just west of Guadalajara, and it landed like thunder across 100 million souls. When Burnley defender Axel Tuanzebe bundled a corner over the line at Estadio Akron, and the referee's whistle confirmed what the VAR screen had taken an agonising 60 seconds to ratify, the Democratic Republic of Congo - the Leopards, the giants of Central Africa - were going back to the FIFA World Cup for the first time in 52 years. The final score was 1-0 over Jamaica in the intercontinental playoff. The meaning was immeasurable. In the…

Apr

01

2026

By SPORT CORRESPONDENTS

Life in prison, now FIFA’s crosshairs: Congress football boss, two officials face ethics hammer

FOOTBALL

FIFA has moved to compound the legal ruin of the Republic of Congo’s football’s disgraced leadership, opening formal ethics proceedings against the head of the Congolese Football Federation (FECOFOOT) and two of his senior officials - both of whom had already been sentenced to five years in a criminal court before the world governing body acted. The investigatory chamber of FIFA’s independent Ethics Committee confirmed on Wednesday that it has initiated disciplinary proceedings against FECOFOOT president Jean-Guy Blaise Mayolas, General Secretary Wantete Badji, and Finance Director Raoul Kanda — all in connection with alleged financial misconduct involving FIFA funds. FIFA’s…

Mar

30

2026

By The African Mirror

CAF pledges referee and judicial overhaul after AFCON final scandal

FOOTBALL

THE Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF) has announced sweeping reforms to its statutes and regulations governing referees, VAR operators and judicial bodies, in a direct acknowledgement that the incidents surrounding the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) Morocco 2025 final exposed critical institutional failures. CAF President Dr Patrice Motsepe confirmed on Sunday that the reforms - described as "far-reaching" - would be implemented immediately, with the explicit aim of ensuring the final's controversies are never repeated. "These changes and improvements to the CAF Statutes and Regulations will also ensure that the unacceptable incidents that took place at the TotalEnergies…

Mar

27

2026

By The African Mirror

Senegal storms CAS as AFCON crisis lays bare a continent’s fractured football soul

FOOTBALL

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has confirmed that the Senegalese Football Federation (FSF) has formally lodged an appeal challenging one of the most convulsive rulings in African football history - the Confederation of African Football's (CAF) decision to retroactively strip Senegal of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) title and hand the trophy to tournament hosts Morocco. The appeal, registered at CAS's headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, on 25 March 2026, formally asks the global sports arbitration tribunal to set aside CAF's March 17 decision entirely and restore Senegal as the rightful champions of AFCON Morocco 2025. The…

Mar

24

2026

By Jovial Rantao

How Mohamed Salah’s 9 year love affair with Liverpool finally kissed the desert sand

FOOTBALL

WELL, they said it couldn’t happen. They said the love was too deep, the bond too sacred, the goals too numerous. They said Mohamed Salah and Liverpool were written in the stars - a celestial pairing as permanent as the pyramids and as dependable as the Nile in flood season. They were wrong. On Tuesday, 24 March 2026, the sky fell in on Anfield. The Pharaoh announced his departure, and English football stopped breathing. It was not a leaked rumour from some dubious agent in a Dubai hotel lobby. It was not a cryptic Instagram post requiring football’s finest code-breakers…

Mar

20

2026

By The African Mirror

The Pharaoh of Fifty

FOOTBALL

THE pass arrived like a whisper - sublime, perfectly weighted, finding its man in the churning chaos of a Champions League night. Mohamed Salah received it on the left flank, his first touch caressing the ball into space. One defender went. Then another. His body shifted, the threat telegraphed and yet utterly unstoppable: the outside of the boot, curling - curling - curling into the top corner, beyond the desperate reach of the Galatasaray goalkeeper. Anfield erupted. But for Mohamed Salah, this was no ordinary goal. It was goal number fifty. Fifty Champions League goals. Fifty moments of genius, accumulated…

Mar

18

2026

By Mpho Rantao

Morocco handed AFCON title after Senegal are stripped

FOOTBALL

TWO months after they were crowned champions, had a trophy tour in their nation's capital and awarded lucrative bonuses, Senegal have been stripped of their mantle as African football champions. Morocco have been named the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations Champions after the Confederation of African Football (CAF) appeal board made a landmark decision, overturning Senegal's helm as the champions of the 2025 tournament following an appeal made by Morocco. The night in question involved a goal scored by Ismaila Sarr that was disallowed before Morocco were awarded a late penalty following VAR intervention. In protest to the call, Senegal…