The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has begun hearing Senegal’s appeal against the decision that stripped the country of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations title and awarded the final to Morocco.

The hearing took place on Thursday at the CAS headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, with representatives of the Senegalese Football Federation, Royal Moroccan Football Federation and the Confederation of African Football (CAF) involved in the proceedings. The case is being considered by a three-member panel.

CAS Director General Matthieu Reeb said the court does not expect to issue its decision immediately. He indicated that the ruling was unlikely to come on Thursday or Friday and could take several days or even weeks, depending on the time required by the arbitrators to prepare their decision and legal reasoning.

The dispute stems from the controversial AFCON final in January, which Senegal initially won 1-0 after extra time. The match was interrupted when Senegal players left the pitch to protest a penalty decision awarded to Morocco before returning and completing the game.

CAF’s Appeal Board subsequently ruled on March 17 that Senegal had forfeited the final under the tournament regulations and recorded the result as a 3-0 victory for Morocco. The decision effectively recognised Morocco as the AFCON champions, prompting the Senegalese Football Federation to take the matter to CAS.

A major issue in Senegal’s appeal is the authority of Congolese referee Jean-Jacques Ndala, who allowed the match to resume after the Senegalese players returned to the pitch. Senegal is seeking to overturn CAF’s decision and have its victory on the field restored. CAS confirmed when it registered the appeal that the Senegalese federation was seeking to set aside the CAF ruling and be declared winners of the tournament.

The hearing was conducted behind closed doors, with the parties represented by their legal teams. With the next Africa Cup of Nations scheduled to begin in June 2027 in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, the eventual CAS ruling will determine whether Morocco retains the title awarded by CAF or Senegal regains the championship won on the pitch.