Rabat – A senior Confederation of African Football (CAF) official has issued a rare public apology to Morocco’s national team over the chaotic Africa Cup of Nations 2025 final, saying the rules were not applied correctly and Morocco was treated unfairly.
Samir Sobha, president of the Mauritius FA and a member of CAF’s executive committee, told The Guardian he wanted Morocco’s federation to accept an apology.
“I want to plead with the Moroccan FA to forgive us for the injustice done to them. The rules have not been respected, as they should have been in this match. They were robbed,” Sobha said.
Sobha argued that Senegal should have faced automatic punishment once they left the field. “It’s clear that after the Senegalese team left the field, all the players should have been sanctioned with a yellow card,” he said. At the same time, he stressed the trophy should not be taken away because “what happened has happened.”
CAF Sanctions and Backlash
His remarks revive debate about the contentious final played in Rabat on January 18, when Senegal controversial win against Morocco 1-0 after extra time.
The match descended into chaos late in regulation after Morocco were awarded a clear penalty following a VAR review. Senegal’s players walked off in protest, causing a 14‑minute delay before returning.
When play resumed, Brahim Diaz missed the penalty, and Senegal later won in extra time through Pape Gueye’s 94th‑minute goal. Reports said captain Sadio Mane helped convince his teammates to come back onto the pitch.
CAF condemned the “unacceptable behaviour” in the final, said it was reviewing footage, and promised action through its disciplinary bodies.
Weeks later, however, the federation issued sanctions that observers deemed shocking and unfair, , including only a five‑match ban and $100,000 fine for Senegal coach Pape Thiaw, a $615,000 fine for the Senegal federation, and two‑match suspensions for Iliman Ndiaye and Ismaila Sarr.
Morocco were also fined $315,000, while Achraf Hakimi and Ismael Saibari received bans for incidents late in the game. Morocco announced it would appeal, but the bid to overturn the result was rejected.
In the same interview with The Guardian, Sobha also criticized CAF’s internal governance.
He said Secretary-General Véron Mosengo‑Omba is no longer legally in office after his extension ended in October 2025. “As per the statutes, he is occupying the seat illegally right now,” Sobha said, urging CAF president Patrice Motsepe to “rectify this position.”
CAF’s disciplinary ruling has already been applied, but debate in Morocco has only grown because many felt the penalties were too light for what happened in the Africa Cup of Nations final.
From Morocco’s side, the complaint is clear that the walk‑off and long stoppage damaged the fairness of the match, yet the final decision did not reflect the scale of the disruption. The sanctions have been described by many as lenient and not proportional, and the story did not end when punishments were announced.
As the criticism is no longer coming only from Morocco, but within the CAF itself, the question is whether more critics will speak out to bring about much-needed reform for how the federation handles the rules of the game.
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