{"id":53083,"date":"2026-03-18T08:19:17","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T08:19:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/?p=53083"},"modified":"2026-03-18T08:19:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T08:19:17","slug":"utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignmorocco-crowned-afcon-2025-champions-as-caf-overturns-final-hands-senegal-3-0-defeat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/2026\/03\/18\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignmorocco-crowned-afcon-2025-champions-as-caf-overturns-final-hands-senegal-3-0-defeat\/","title":{"rendered":"Morocco crowned AFCON 2025 champions as CAF overturns final, hands Senegal 3\u20130 defeat"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"mvp-content-main\">&#13;<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_189829\" style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-189829\" class=\"wp-image-189829 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Morocco-crowned-AFCON-2025-champions-as-CAF-overturns-final-hands.jpg?resize=600%2C349&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"600\" height=\"349\" srcset=\"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Morocco-crowned-AFCON-2025-champions-as-CAF-overturns-final-hands.jpg 600w, https:\/\/fakazanews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Morocco-Algeria-300x175.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 600px) 100vw, 600px\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-189829\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Morocco handed AFCON 2025 title as CAF overturns Senegal\u2019s final win<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The drama surrounding the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations final has taken a dramatic turn, with the Confederation of African Football (CAF) officially awarding Morocco the title after ruling that Senegal forfeited the match.<\/p>\n<p>In a decision announced on Tuesday, CAF\u2019s Appeal Board overturned the earlier outcome of the final and upheld Morocco\u2019s protest, declaring Senegal in violation of competition rules.<\/p>\n<p>The governing body confirmed that the match would be recorded as a 3\u20130 win in favour of Morocco, effectively stripping Senegal of the victory they had secured on the pitch.<\/p>\n<p>The original final, played on 18 January, had ended 1\u20130 in Senegal\u2019s favour after extra time.<\/p>\n<p>However, the match was marred by controversy late in regulation time when Senegal\u2019s players briefly refused to continue playing after Morocco were awarded a stoppage-time penalty with the score still goalless.<\/p>\n<p>Although play eventually resumed following a delay, and the penalty was saved before Senegal went on to score the winner, the incident became the focal point of Morocco\u2019s appeal.<\/p>\n<p>CAF ruled that Senegal\u2019s actions during that period breached Articles 82 and 84 of the tournament regulations.<\/p>\n<p>According to these rules, any team that refuses to play or abandons a match without the referee\u2019s approval is deemed to have lost and can forfeit the game.<\/p>\n<p>The Appeal Board concluded that Senegal\u2019s conduct met that threshold, triggering an automatic 3\u20130 loss.<\/p>\n<p>The ruling also dismissed all other arguments raised in the appeal, reinforcing the decision in Morocco\u2019s favour and backing the stance of the F\u00e9d\u00e9ration Royale Marocaine de Football, which insisted its protest was about enforcing the rules rather than disputing the sporting contest.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the victory, Morocco were not cleared of all wrongdoing.<\/p>\n<p>CAF held them accountable for the behaviour of ball boys during the match, although the fine was reduced to $50,000.<\/p>\n<p>A separate $100,000 fine related to interference around the VAR review area remains in place after the appeal was dismissed.<\/p>\n<p>Moroccan midfielder Isma\u00ebl Saibari also saw his punishment reviewed.<\/p>\n<p>While the misconduct finding against him was upheld, his sanction was reduced to a two-match ban, with one match suspended, and a previously imposed $100,000 fine was scrapped.<\/p>\n<p>Senegal\u2019s football federation has strongly rejected the outcome and confirmed plans to challenge the ruling at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.<\/p>\n<p>It described CAF\u2019s decision as \u201can unfair, unprecedented and unacceptable decision which brings discredit to African football.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!-- CONTENT END 4 -->\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p><script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n#Morocco #crowned #AFCON #champions #CAF #overturns #final #hands #Senegal #defeat<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#13; Morocco handed AFCON 2025 title as CAF overturns Senegal\u2019s final win The drama surrounding the 2025 Africa Cup of&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":53084,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-53083","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mzansi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53083","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53083"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53083\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":53085,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53083\/revisions\/53085"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53084"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53083"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}