AFCON - The African Mirror

Apr

16

2026

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…

Mar

30

2026

By The African Mirror

They came, they showed, they refused to surrender

NEWS

THERE is a language that exists beyond lawyers, beyond boardrooms, beyond the self-serving edicts of governing bodies drunk on their own authority. It is the language of the body - sovereign, unapologetic, magnificent. On Saturday afternoon at the Stade de France, the Lions of Teranga spoke it with devastating fluency. No speeches. No placards. No choreographed outrage. Just supreme athletes, draped in the green, gold and red of the Republic of Senegal, walking onto hallowed turf with the Africa Cup of Nations trophy nestled between their hands - the very trophy that the Confederation of African Football has ordered them…

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

23

2026

By FABRICE LOLLIA

Senegal stripped of title: Afcon ruling is lawful, but it puts Caf’s reputation at risk

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

THE appeals board of African football’s ruling body, the Confederation of African Football (Caf), on 17 March overturned the outcome of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) final. Afcon is the continent’s biggest tournament. On 18 January, Senegal won 1-0 in extra time against Morocco in Rabat. But two months down the road, Caf declared a 3-0 score in favour of Morocco, citing violations of Articles 82 and 84 of its regulations. (Three points are the mandatory legal penalty.) Senegal has announced it will appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. As a scholar of information and communication…

Mar

19

2026

By SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

‘Grossly illegal and profoundly unjust’: Senegal’s government declares war on CAF

NEWS

WHEN a government - not a football federation, not a sports ministry, but the executive arm of a sovereign state - issues a formal press release accusing the continent's premier football body of corruption and vowing to pursue it through international courts, something seismic has happened. That moment arrived on Wednesday morning, when Senegal's Secretary of State to the Prime Minister, Marie Rose Khady Fatou Faye, signed her name to a statement that framed a football dispute as a matter of national honour, institutional integrity, and African justice. The occasion was the response of the Government of the Republic of…

Jan

29

2026

By The African Mirror

CRACKDOWN: Massive fines for Senegal, Morocco as CAF wields iron fist to restore AFCON’s tarnished reputation

FOOTBALL

THE Confederation of African Football (CAF) has delivered its most emphatic statement on discipline in recent memory, imposing crushing financial penalties and lengthy suspensions on players, coaches and federations following the chaotic breakdown of order that marred the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations final. In sanctions that totaled over $1 million in fines and saw multiple suspensions handed down, CAF's Disciplinary Board made clear that the disgraceful scenes in Rabat on January 18 - when Senegal's squad temporarily abandoned the pitch in protest and near-riots threatened to engulf the continental showpiece - represented an unacceptable breach that demanded severe consequences.…

Jan

29

2026

By CHUKA ONWUMECHILI

Afcon drama: what went wrong and what went right at the continent’s biggest football cup in Morocco

FOOTBALL

THE 35th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, hosted by Morocco, produced thrills and several story lines, some good and others not so good. It ended in a victory for Senegal – their second Afcon championship. While the 1-0 victory over Morocco was deserved, the championship game ended on a sour note as fans invaded the field and the winning country abandoned the game for 16 minutes. I’m a sports communications scholar and an author of multiple books on football as it relates to Africa. The top four positives of the tournament were: quality matches played on impeccable surfaces…

Jan

24

2026

By The African Mirror

AFCON AFTERMATH: King of Morocco in damage control mode

NEWS

WHEN the dust settled on one of the most tumultuous Africa Cup of Nations finals in recent memory, Morocco found itself at a crossroads. The dramatic scenes at Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium - Senegalese players walking off in protest, fans clashing with security, a continent watching in disbelief - had opened wounds that threatened to unravel years of carefully cultivated diplomatic capital. Then, as is customary in African tradition, the King spoke. And when the King speaks, silence follows. King Mohammed VI's intervention this Thursday was more than mere damage control. It was a calculated assertion of Morocco's vision for…

Jan

23

2026

By SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

The Lions roar: How Senegal’s heroes painted Africa gold

FOOTBALL

THIS is a tale of triumph, treasure, and a President who knows how to throw a party Once upon a time in West Africa, there lived a pack of magnificent Lions - not the four-legged kind that lounge in the savanna, mind you, but the Lions of Teranga, Senegal's fearless football warriors who had just pulled off the sporting heist of the century. Picture this: It's Sunday night in Morocco. The stadium is packed. The hosts are confident. Senegal? They're about to rewrite history with the audacity of a Hollywood blockbuster. Ninety minutes tick by. Stoppage time arrives. Morocco gets…