A member of the executive committee of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) has said “a great injustice” was done to Morocco in the final of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
Samir Sobha, president of the Mauritian Football Federation, apologised to Morocco after the hosts lost 1-0 to Senegal following a controversial penalty.
In an interview with The Guardian, Sobha said the rules were not applied properly during the match.
“I want to ask the Royal Moroccan Football Federation to forgive us for the injustice that was done to them,” he said. “The rules were not respected as they should have been. They were wronged.”
Morocco were beaten by Senegal in the final on 18 January at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat.
The game was disrupted when Senegal’s players left the pitch for around 15 minutes in protest at a penalty decision. They later returned and the match continued.
Sobha said that after reviewing the competition rules, he believes all Senegal players should have received yellow cards for leaving the field.
“It is clear that after the Senegal team left the pitch, all the players should have been sanctioned with a yellow card,” he said. “We should put our ego aside and admit that an injustice was committed against the Moroccan national team.”
He added that although the trophy cannot be taken away from Senegal, the governing body should recognise what happened.
