Football fans around the world were stunned on Tuesday as the Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced that Morocco are now the official Africa Cup of Nations champions, and not Senegal.
CAF’s statement said its appeal board ruled Senegal was “declared to have forfeited the Final” and its 1-0 win in extra time becomes a 3-0 default win for host nation Morocco.
In the Jan. 18 final in Rabat, Senegal players, led by coach Pape Thiaw, left the field in protest during stoppage time for 15 minutes — and fans tried to storm the field — when Morocco was awarded a penalty that was set to decide the match.
Real Madrid‘s Brahim Díaz missed the subsequent penalty, flubbing his Panenka attempt, and Senegal went on to win the match, and the tournament, in extra time.
But those 15 minutes, when most of the team left the field, have come back to bite the Teranga Lions, and football fans had many thoughts on the ruling.
Senegal’s players were quick to jump on socials too, with captain Sadio Mané posting in his stories that, ‘The world knows the true champions’.
Fans were also baffled by the amount of time it took to make the ruling, give CAF’s rules are clear on the matter. But some pointed out that not everyone left the field, like Mane, so it was a grey area.
