The long-running dispute over the winner of the 2026 Africa Cup of Nations will move to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Thursday, with Senegal challenging the decision to strip them of the title and award it to hosts Morocco.
According to Reuters, a three-member CAS panel in Lausanne will hear arguments from Senegal, Morocco and the Confederation of African Football (CAF), with Senegal seeking to have their 1-0 victory in January’s final restored.
Senegal defeated Morocco 1-0 after extra time in Rabat, but CAF’s Appeal Board later overturned the result after ruling that Senegal had forfeited the match by leaving the pitch without the referee’s authorisation.
The controversy began late in regulation time after a penalty was awarded against Senegal. The team’s players left the pitch for around 14 minutes, with several reportedly returning to the dressing room in protest before play eventually resumed.
Morocco failed to convert the penalty, and the match proceeded to extra time, where Senegal scored the winning goal.
Two months later, CAF’s Appeal Board ruled in Morocco’s favour, changing the result to a 3-0 victory for the hosts and declaring them champions.
Senegal lodged their appeal with CAS on March 25 and are now seeking to overturn CAF’s decision.
“After the hearing, the panel will start its deliberations. At this stage, CAS cannot state when a final decision will be rendered but it will not be on the date of the hearing,” CAS said in a statement.
Thursday’s hearing will take place behind closed doors before a three-member panel chaired by French civil rights expert Professor Gerald Simon. Italian international law professor Luigi Fumagalli and Germany-based lawyer and professor Ulrich Haas will complete the panel.
A central issue will be the interpretation of CAF’s tournament regulations, which state that a team that “refuses to play or leaves the ground before the regular end of the match without the authorisation of the referee” shall be considered the loser and eliminated from the competition.
Senegal are expected to argue that the regulation should be interpreted strictly and that their temporary departure from the field did not amount to abandoning the match.
Morocco, meanwhile, are expected to maintain that leaving the field without the referee’s authorisation triggers the regulation, regardless of whether the departure was temporary.
CAS has confirmed that it will not issue its final decision on Thursday, meaning the dispute over the AFCON title will continue until the panel delivers its ruling at a later date.
