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Senegal launch appeal to retrieve African Cup title
AP • March 26th, 2026 7:00 am
Senegal celebrating their AFCON triumph before African soccer bosses stripped them of the title | Photo: AP
Senegal's appeal to be reinstated as Africa Cup of Nations champions has been registered by sport's highest court -- but no timetable has been set amid a likely long process towards a verdict in soccer's heated controversy.
The Senegal soccer federation is challenging a surprise ruling last week by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to strip them of their title, won in a chaotic final in January, and award it instead to host nation Morocco.
An appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland was promised last week by the Senegalese government, which also called for an international investigation "into suspected corruption" within the African soccer body.
CAS said in a statement that the Senegal federation was asking for extra time to file an appeal brief because CAF had not yet given detailed written reasons to explain its verdict.
"At this early stage of proceedings and considering the (Senegal federation) request to suspend deadlines, it is not possible to anticipate a procedural timeline and to indicate when a hearing will be scheduled," the court said.
The Senegalese team received a hero's welcome back in Dakar after their win | Photo: AP
CAF appeal judges took the title from Senegal two months after the final in Rabat as punishment for a 15-minute walk-off by their players to protest against a penalty being awarded to Morocco in the last minute of regulation time.
The referee restarted the game after Senegal's team returned, and the Morocco penalty was then saved. Senegal then scored in extra time to beat the hosts 1-0.
The laws of soccer state the referee's decision on the field of play is final, but the CAF judges, however, cited a tournament rule that any team refusing to play "shall be eliminated for good from the current competition."
An appeal to CAS can typically take several months to schedule a hearing then weeks or months more to announce a verdict.
