In a statement issued on Tuesday, the African body declared initial champions Senegal’s victory has been forfeited to award the victory to hosts Morocco with a score of 3-0.
“Following an appeal by the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF), the CAF Appeals Committee deemed the appeal admissible on procedural grounds and well-founded on its merits,” read part of the CAF statement.
“It thus overturned the initial decision of the Disciplinary Committee, finding that the Senegalese team’s conduct should be sanctioned according to Articles 82 and 84 of the tournament’s regulations.”
Consequently, the Senegalese Football Federation (FSF) was found to be in breach of regulations due to its team’s conduct during the final.
During the final staged in Rabat, Senegal secured a 1-0 victory courtesy of Pape Gueye. Senegal’s winner came after Morocco had missed a penalty, a decision which the Lions of Teranga protested and threatened to boycott the final.
CAF were determined to award Morocco
“I couldn’t imagine for a second that the CAF could go so far down this path of absurdity,” said the 78-year-old Le Roy, who gained prominence at international level as coach to the Senegal, Cameroon, and Ghana national teams as quoted by WiwSport.
“But when you see how the CAF is run today by Patrice Motsepe, who is essentially Gianni Infantino's lackey, you understand certain things better. From the start, some were determined to give the cup to Morocco.
“Yet, even though Morocco had a very good AFCON and deserved to go far in the competition, in the final it was clearly Senegal who were the better team. No one could have imagined that we would hear such a decision two months later.”
'It’s a disgrace to the image of CAF’
According to Le Roy, Senegal will not give up despite the ruling by CAF, and further added the Lions of Teranga will fight to the end to have their rights restored.
“We’re in the middle of an election period, so we can imagine all sorts of things happening, only to ultimately decide that Morocco is the champion,” added Le Roy, who took charge of Senegal when they reached the quarter-finals at the 1992 African Cup of Nations.
“I think this isn’t over yet, and Senegal will eventually have its rights restored. But, once again, it’s a disgrace to the image of the Confederation of African Football.
“I think that, initially, there will be an appeals committee, since this is a preliminary ruling.
“Then, depending on the outcome, the case could be taken to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. But I fear that this decision, unfortunately for a continent with so much potential, will be a laughingstock for the entire football world.”
Senegalese Football Federation (FSF) has already protested the CAF decision as “unfair, unprecedented, and unacceptable,” believing it discredits African football.
“To defend the rights and interests of Senegalese football, the federation announces it will appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, with an emergency procedure to be initiated as soon as possible,” read part of the statement.
“The Federation reaffirms its commitment to the values of integrity and sporting justice and will keep the public informed of the follow-up to this matter.”
Apart from the Senegal versus Morocco verdict, CAF further confirmed the finding that Ismael Saibari (Player No. 11 of the Morocco national team) had committed misconduct in violation of Articles 82 and 83(1) of the CAF Disciplinary Code.
The sanction imposed on Saibari was therefore amended to a suspension of two (2) official CAF matches, of which one (1) match was suspended. However, a fine of USD 100,000, which was earlier imposed on Saibari, was set aside.
