PARIS (AP) 鈥� Senegal players paraded the Africa Cup of Nations trophy in front of thousands of fans on Saturday, despite the Confederation of African Football’s decision to and award it to Morocco.
Ahead of a friendly match against Peru at Stade de France, Senegal players led by captain Kalidou Koulibaly took to the pitch with the trophy as part of pre-game celebrations.
The Senegalese Football Association had announced it would to its fans before the game in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis. Paris has a significant Senegalese community.
Earlier this week in the French capital, Senegalese FA president Abdoulaye Fall said Senegal was the victim of 鈥� in the history of soccer and pledged that the country would defend its players鈥� 鈥渉onor鈥� at the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Senegal is challenging CAF’s surprise ruling last week to strip the team of the title won in in January and give it to host nation Morocco.
Senegal鈥檚 legal team said the country still considers itself the champion of Africa. The 鈥檚 appeals board ruled that Senegal is 鈥渄eclared to have forfeited the final鈥� and its 1-0 win in extra time became a 3-0 default win for Morocco. The rationale was that Senegal players led by their coach had left the field in protest when Morocco was awarded a penalty, leading to a 15-minute stoppage.
Senegal鈥檚 appeal to be reinstated as champion was registered this week by CAS, which set no timetable for a likely long process toward a verdict. The appeal was , which also called for an international investigation 鈥渋nto suspected corruption鈥� within CAF.
An appeal to CAS can typically take months to schedule a hearing then weeks or months more to announce a verdict. Senegal鈥檚 lawyers, however, will ask CAS to open an expedited procedure and hope the Moroccan federation and the CAF agree so that the case can be dealt with within two months.
___
AP soccer:
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
