The President of the Confederation of African Football, Patrice Motsepe, has acknowledged the appeals board ruling following the controversial 2025 Africa Cup of Nations final between Senegal national football team and Morocco national football team.
Motsepe expressed strong disappointment over the incidents that occurred during the final, stating that they undermined trust and the progress made in African football governance. He highlighted that distrust in refereeing and decision-making remains a longstanding “legacy issue,” despite reforms aimed at improving integrity and independence.
He stressed that CAF has taken steps to ensure its judicial bodies are composed of respected and independent professionals, including judges and lawyers selected from across its member associations and regional zones. However, he acknowledged that perceptions of bias and lack of trust still persist.
In his statement, he said:
I’ve been informed of the ruling by the CAF appeals board concerning the appeal by Morocco relating to the AFCON Morocco 2025 final match. And I previously expressed my extreme disappointment with the incidences that took place at the final match.
The important thing is that what happened undermines the good work CAF has done over many years to ensure integrity, respect, ethics, governance, and credibility of match results.
The occurrences at the final expose the suspicion and distrust we are still dealing with. It’s a legacy issue that has existed for many years.
Another important matter is the independence and respect of our judicial bodies. We selected members from across Africa—respected judges and lawyers—to ensure decisions are viewed with integrity.
However, we must still address perceptions and concerns about integrity. It is an ongoing issue.
We are committed to ensuring that no country is treated more favourably than another. Every nation has the right to appeal decisions, including at the highest level.
We take what happened at the AFCON 2025 final very seriously and are already implementing measures to address deficiencies and improve standards.
It is important that football supporters across all 54 countries trust that decisions are fair, impartial, and made with integrity.
Watch the official Video of his stament posted by CAF TV on Youtube below;
Softfootball gathered that after the match, the Moroccan Football Federation filed an appeal, arguing that Senegal should forfeit the match for leaving the field without authorisation from the referee.
Two months later, CAF confirmed that Morocco’s appeal had been accepted. As a result, Senegal were stripped of the title, and Morocco were awarded a 3–0 victory, officially becoming AFCON 2025 champions.
The decision was based on Articles 82 and 84 of CAF regulations, reinforcing CAF’s position on teams leaving the field of play without authorisation.
