Senegal continued to protest the stripping of their Africa Cup of Nations title as they paraded the trophy around the Stade de France before their latest international match.
The Confederation of African Football appeal board took the unprecedented action to essentially disqualify Senegal earlier this month after their players walked off the field in protest following a decision to hand their hosts a penalty in the decider on January 18.
Amid tumultuous scenes, the penalty was subsequently missed when Senegal returned to the field and they went on to win 1-0. In an unprecedented ruling 58 days later, Morocco have now been handed the game 3-0 after an appeal, and the title with it.
A spokesperson for CAF said their appeal board decided that ‘the Senegal National Team is declared to have forfeited the Final’.
They added that an appeal from Morocco was ‘admissible and upheld’ after Senegal’s behaviour ‘infringed Article 82’ of its regulations.
But Senegal, having appealed the decision, continue to insist they are champions, and, ahead of their friendly match with Peru in front of 70,000 fans in France on Sunday, showed off the trophy.
The likes of Edouard Mendy and Iliman Ndiaye were in attendance as the Senegal squad took the trophy onto the field, and they held it high in the stands too as their fans cheered.
Everton’s Idrissa Gueye is among the players who have protested the ruling.
He said: ‘I think this decision is just ridiculous. We won the game on the pitch not in offices and as a Senegalese player I’m just proud of what we did.
‘We deserve this trophy. We fight on the pitch and everyone knows what happened and I think if you play 10 times this game we would win it 10 times.’
Senegal have lodged an appeal of their own, with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) saying it will decide on the appeal ‘as swiftly as possible.’
Cas director general Matthieu Reeb added: ‘We understand that teams and fans are eager to know the final decision, and we will ensure that arbitration proceedings are conducted as swiftly as possible, while respecting the right of all parties to a fair hearing.’
In the 98th minute of the game in Rabat at the start of the year, Senegal’s players made their exit in protest at an earlier goal and the awarding of the later penalty. They were off for around 17 minutes as chaos unfolded with Senegal fans attempting to invade the pitch.
Senegal eventually returned after being persuaded by former Liverpool forward Sadio Mane to come back on.
Real Madrid’s Brahim Diaz took the penalty which was saved by former Chelsea stopper Edouard Mendy and the game went into extra-time – where Senegal triumphed thanks to a goal from Pape Gueye to give them what they thought was their second AFCON title in five years.
However, Morocco appealed and in a stunning decision CAF have taken the extraordinary step.
