The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) will decide the next step in the legal dispute between Senegal and Morocco over the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations final, following Thursday’s hearing in Lausanne.
Although no date has been set for the verdict, the two countries now know the three possible outcomes. The case was brought by the Senegalese Football Federation, which is challenging the Confederation of African Football’s (CAF) decision to overturn the result of the final.
CAS can uphold CAF’s ruling, restore the result recorded on the pitch or cancel the decision and send the matter back to the continental governing body.
The first outcome would be the most damaging for Senegal. If CAS confirms CAF’s decision, Morocco’s victory by forfeit would stand and the final would officially be recorded as a 3-0 win for Morocco.
CAF ruled that the temporary departure of Senegal’s players from the pitch breached the competition regulations. The match resumed and Senegal went on to win 1-0 after extra time, but CAF later changed the sporting outcome of the final.
A decision in favour of CAF would therefore confirm Morocco as the official 2025 Africa Cup of Nations champions.
The second possibility is that CAS replaces CAF’s decision with its own and recognises the result achieved during the match. Senegal would then officially regain its 1-0 victory after extra time.
That ruling would mean the events during the final were not considered sufficient grounds to invalidate a match that resumed, reached its conclusion and had its result recorded by the referee. Senegal would recover the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations title, while Morocco would lose the benefit of the forfeit awarded in March.
CAS could also decide not to determine the final result itself. In that case, it could annul the disputed ruling and refer the case back to CAF for a fresh decision.
The legal dispute would then continue beyond the Lausanne hearing. CAF would have to reconsider the case and issue another ruling, taking into account the points identified by CAS. The final status of the match would remain unresolved until that process was complete.
The three scenarios are therefore still open: CAS may confirm Morocco’s title on a forfeit, restore Senegal’s victory on the field or return the case to CAF for further consideration. A verdict could be close, but its timing remains unknown.