Senegal has not accepted the Confederation of African Football’s decision to be stripped of its African Cup of Nations title and showed defiance on Saturday.
Senegal paraded the trophy before the friendly against Peru (Image: JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP via Getty Images)
Senegal unveiled the African Cup of Nations trophy ahead of Saturday’s friendly against Peru in clear defiance of the decision to strip them of their title.
The Confederation of African Football (Caf) announced earlier this month that the result of the final had been overturned and the trophy awarded to Morocco. Senegal, who won 1-0 in extra time in a drama-filled match, have taken their case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas).
They described the decision, in which coach Cuff declared a 3-0 victory in favor of Morocco, as “unfair, unprecedented and unacceptable”. This happened after coach Pape Thiau and his players left the pitch in protest after Morocco were awarded a penalty by VAR.
When Senegal returned to the pitch after a 17-minute delay, the penalty was saved by Edouard Mendy and Pape Gueye scored the winning goal to seal their second AFCON title. They are confident that Cass will rule in their favor, as they believe that Caff instituted the rules incorrectly.
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That confidence was on display for everyone to see as Senegal’s national team paraded the trophy around the Stade de France on Saturday before taking on Peru in a friendly ahead of this summer’s World Cup. Captain Kalidou Coulibaly led the celebrations in front of 70,000 Senegalese fans dispersed in Paris.
The AFCON trophy was handed over to Coulibaly and Mendy for a photo before being placed in the presidential suite for safe keeping. The team’s social media channels shared footage of the celebrations at their first match since the final in Rabat on January 18.
Everton midfielder Idrissa Guillier echoed the sentiment within the team, saying: “I think this decision is completely ridiculous. We won the game on the pitch, not in the office, and as Senegalese players I’m just proud of what we did.”
Edouard Mendy and Kalidou Koulibaly show off the trophy (Image: JULIEN DE ROSA/AFP via Getty Images)
“We deserve this trophy. We are fighting on the pitch and everyone knows what happened and if we play this game 10 times we will win 10 times.”
Kass said he intended to rule on Senegal’s appeal “as quickly as possible.” “We understand that teams and fans want to know the final decision, and we will work to ensure that the arbitration process is carried out as quickly as possible, while respecting the right of all parties to a fair hearing,” Kas Secretary General Mathieu Lieb added.
Senegal issued a statement earlier this month following Caf’s decision, saying: “The Senegalese Football Federation condemns the unfair, unprecedented and unacceptable decision that discredits African football. In order to protect the rights of the Senegalese Football Federation and the interests of Senegalese football, the federation will launch an appeal as soon as possible to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne.”
“FSF reaffirms its unwavering commitment to the values of integrity and sporting justice and will continue to keep the public informed about developments on this issue.”
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