Senegal pledges to fight ‘robbery’ after CAF strips it of AFCON title

Senegal’s lawyers say CAF’s decision to hand Morocco the AFCON title ‘openly violates the laws of the ‌game’.

The head of Senegal’s football governing body has pledged to mount a “crusade” against a ⁠decision by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) to strip the country’s African Cup of Nations title, as its legal team warned the case could reshape the world of football ⁠and undermine the principle that refereeing decisions are final.

“This decision cannot even be considered a true sporting justice ruling – it is so crude, so absurd, so irrational,” lawyer Juan de Dios Crespo Perez, representing Senegal’s ruling body, told a news conference on Thursday.

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“It openly violates the laws of the ‌game and the principle that refereeing decisions are final.”

“In the face of this administrative robbery, the FSF refuses fatality. We will fight a moral and legal crusade,” Abdoulaye Fall, president of the Senegalese Football Federation (FSF), said.

The FSF lodged an appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on ⁠Wednesday against the decision to overturn the result.

Senegal were ruled to ⁠have forfeited the final in Rabat on January 18 after walking off the pitch in protest at a potentially decisive penalty awarded to Morocco.They returned and scored a goal in extra time to win the game ⁠1-0.

Abdoulaye Fall, president of the Senegalese football federation with lawyers Seydou Diagne, Juan de Dios Crespo-Perez and Pierre Olivier Sur during the news conference [Abdul Saboor/Reuters]

Lawyer Seydou Diagne said Senegal suffered a “betrayal” and has gathered international lawyers from Switzerland, Spain, France and Senegal to plead the case.

Senegal’s legal team said the country still considers itself the champion of Africa despite the CAF’s ruling.

“If CAS let this situation happen, the winner of the next World Cup could be decided within a lawyers’ firm,” Diagne said.

Senegal, who have qualified for this year’s World Cup, face Peru in a friendly in Paris on Saturday.

Serge Vittoz, part of a ⁠six-lawyer legal team in Paris, said they were asking ⁠CAS to speed up the process.

“Such a procedure usually lasts nine to 12 months, but we want it to go faster. However, all parties must agree to it,” Vittoz said.

Asked whether the trophy would be presented to their ‌fans at the Stade de France on Saturday, Fall said: “I’ll see you at the Stade de France on March 28.”

Vittoz argued that the decision of CAF’s appeal board to overturn ‌the ‌result of the final had not been explained.

“To be valid, a decision must be explained. It has not been, so Senegal are still African champions,” Vittoz said.

CAF’s South African president Patrice Motsepe insisted last week that “not a single country in Africa will be treated in a manner that is more preferential, or more advantageous, or more favourable than any other.”

An appeal to CAS can typically take months to schedule a hearing, then weeks or months more to announce a verdict.