Khaberni - The African Union exploded a thunderous surprise on Tuesday evening by punishing Senegal and declaring it a 0-3 loser in the 2025 African Cup final, and crowning Morocco as the champion of the tournament instead.
The decision struck the Senegalese fans like lightning, and sparked a wave of varied immediate reactions upon its announcement.
While Moroccans celebrated the title they considered to be legally deserved, shock and anger prevailed in the Senegalese streets, who saw in the decision a stark injustice ignoring the fact that they were crowned champions on the field.
The players of "The Lions of Teranga" were quick to express their refusal of the decision, with defender Moussa Nyakaté posting a series of photos via the "story" feature on Instagram, expressing his adherence to the legitimacy of the championship achieved by his teammates on the field.
Nyakaté appeared in the first photo holding the championship trophy during the previous celebration moments, accompanied by a concise and firm comment: "Forever", in a clear indication that the title will remain in the memory of the players and the Senegalese fans regardless of management decisions.
In the second photo, the player appeared raising the trophy high, commenting defiantly: "You can come and take it", in a symbolic message about the difficulty of wresting the achievement from its owners.
In the third photo, Nyakaté appeared staring with his eyes at the African Cup, with a sarcastic comment: "This is not artificial intelligence... this is reality", clearly hinting that the on-field reality cannot be changed by paper decisions.
According to the official website of the African Union, the decision of the appeals committee came after accepting the appeal submitted by the Royal Moroccan Football Federation both formally and substantively, and it canceled the previous disciplinary committee's decision that had closed the case.
The appeals committee confirmed that the conduct of the Senegalese national team during the final match falls within the scope of the violations stipulated in Articles 82 and 84 of the African Nations Cup regulations, necessitating the imposition of the "technical withdrawal" penalty and considering the victory in favor of Morocco by a score (3-0).
It is worth mentioning that the final match, held last January on Moroccan soil, witnessed dramatic moments when the Senegalese players left the field in protest against a penalty kick awarded to Morocco in the final minutes of normal time following a video assistant referee "VAR" review before returning to resume the match.
The Moroccan player Ibrahim Diaz missed the awarded penalty, leading to a decisive extra time where Senegal succeeded in scoring the only winning goal (1-0) through a counterattack, securing the title for the second time in the last three editions of the tournament, in a scene that seemed destined to go down in African football history before "CAF" turned the tables with its new decision.
