One month after Senegal's dramatic victory over host nation Morocco in the final of the Africa Cup of Nations 2025, the match continues to generate intense debate across African football. The final, played in a charged atmosphere before 90,000 spectators at a Casablanca stadium packed with Moroccan supporters, was marked by several deeply controversial incidents — contested refereeing decisions, a temporary stoppage following a disputed penalty awarded to Morocco, and a brief walkoff by Senegalese players that threatened to abandon the contest entirely. Senegal ultimately secured the title with a goal from Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Pape Gueye, but the manner of the victory left deep scars, particularly within the Moroccan football community and among neutral observers who felt the match's integrity had been compromised.
In an extraordinary admission that sent shockwaves through African football governance, Olivier Safari, head of the Confederation of African Football's referees committee, acknowledged in mid-February 2026 that referees had deliberately chosen not to sanction Senegalese players who briefly left the pitch during the second-half stoppage. Safari stated that officials made a real-time judgement call to prevent the match from being abandoned, prioritising the completion of the final over strict enforcement of the laws of the game. The admission was unprecedented in its transparency but immediately raised questions about whether the exception applied selectively and whether Moroccan players would have received the same treatment in equivalent circumstances.
CAF President Patrice Motsepe convened an emergency meeting of the football body's executive committee in February to review the officiating decisions and consider what reforms are needed to restore confidence in continental tournament adjudication. Among the proposals under review is an expanded video assistant referee (VAR) system for all AFCON knockout matches, mandatory post-match referee debriefings with independent observers, and a new independent arbitration panel empowered to review and report on significant officiating decisions within 72 hours of a match. Football associations from across northern, western, and southern Africa have submitted formal memoranda calling for structural reform.
Senegal, for their part, are focused on consolidating their AFCON title success. The country's football federation announced in February that the national team will play a prestigious friendly at the Stade de France in Paris in March — a fixture that will give Pape Gueye, Sadio Mané, and their teammates the opportunity to celebrate the title in front of a diaspora audience of millions. Meanwhile, Nigeria's athletics contingent entered its second week of intensive preparation at a training camp in Asaba for the Commonwealth Games, while the 2026 Africa Senior Athletics Championships were confirmed for Accra, Ghana, from 12 to 17 May — signalling that off the football pitch, Africa's broader sporting calendar continues to build toward a landmark year.
