A new clash: Senegal launches a legal battle against Morocco

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The trial of Senegalese fans has opened a new chapter in an ongoing dispute.

The dispute over the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations between Morocco and Senegal enters a critical phase this week, as legal and diplomatic tensions rise and CAF president Patrice Motsepe intensifies efforts to safeguard African football’s reputation.

According to Foot Mercato, while the Senegalese Football Federation prepares to lodge its appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), attention is also on Rabat, where the appeal hearing for the detained Senegalese fans is due to start, a development that could further complicate the standoff.

Tensions are escalating

For weeks, African football has been rocked by an extraordinary crisis that has spilled beyond the pitch and into politics and law.

The crisis erupted on 17 March when the African Union stripped Senegal of the trophy and handed it to Morocco, ruling that the “Lions of Teranga” had forfeited the final by briefly walking off the pitch.

The Senegalese federation deems the ruling “unfair and illogical”, insists it is still the “legal champion of Africa”, and has asked for an urgent verdict before the 2026 World Cup.

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The Royal Moroccan Football Federation has reiterated its respect for CAF regulations and its readiness to cooperate with all international bodies. Meanwhile, the Senegalese national team marked its “on-field” win with symbolic celebrations during a friendly against Peru in France.

Meanwhile, CAF has stepped up diplomatic efforts to defuse the row.

Against this backdrop, Confederation of African Football (CAF) president Patrice Motsepe intensified diplomatic efforts to defuse the row.

After meeting Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye in Dakar, he travelled to Rabat on what many called a “rescue mission” for African football.

Motsepe told reporters that the Confederation is committed to “protecting the integrity of the game across the continent” and hinted at a review of tournament regulations in the wake of the final’s controversies.

He stated, "Penalties must act as a deterrent, yet we also need to refine the regulations to guarantee fairness and transparency."

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The CAF president also rejected what he called “baseless claims” of corruption against the Senegalese Football Federation, underlining the need to safeguard the reputation of the 54 member associations.

Meanwhile, the trial of 18 Senegalese fans arrested after the final in Rabat is set to resume this week.

The week also saw the start of the appeal trial for 18 Senegalese fans arrested after the Africa Cup of Nations final in Rabat.

The first-instance court had sentenced them to three months to one year in prison for rioting and violence at a sporting event.

After several delays, the Court of Appeal in Rabat is set to hear the case on Monday, under intense media and diplomatic scrutiny, with the outcome seen as a fresh test of bilateral ties.

The case is being closely monitored by human rights groups.

Morocco’s National Human Rights Council says it is monitoring the proceedings to ensure transparency and respect for the detainees’ fundamental rights.

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It clarified that its representatives had observed the hearings, reviewed the case files and visited the detainees at Al-Arjat Prison without prison officials present; during these visits, the defendants did not report any rights violations.

It stressed that its role is to safeguard the presumption of innocence, public hearings, and the defence’s full participation.

The Moroccan Football Federation is not a party to the legal proceedings.

The Royal Moroccan Football Federation is not a party to the proceedings, either as prosecutor or civil plaintiff, so the case remains strictly within the Moroccan judicial system, untouched by official sporting bodies.

As the African football community waits for this week’s rulings, one question lingers: will CAF’s intervention quell the storm, or will the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations continue to symbolise the sport’s deepest modern crisis?