The dangerous precedent set by Senegal’s ‘shameful’ Afcon final walk-off protest | OneFootball

It was the most monumental case of picking up your ball and going home in football history. Over the course of an extraordinary 16-minute exodus, Pape Thiaw and Senegal plunged the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations into infamy. Yet the toxicity has not been contained – the next steps will be telling for the future of the competition and, perhaps, for international football as a whole.

The prevailing emotion from one of the most contentious continental finals conceivable is raw injustice. It was the sentiment that sparked the Teranga Lions’ protest, feeling aggrieved that a soft VAR call was seemingly about to cost them a second Afcon title. The wave of despondency that comes with such gut-wrenching decisions is an all-too-familiar experience for football fans, so in the moment when referee Jean-Jacques Ndala pointed to the spot, there was sympathy for Senegal. It was short-lived.

To say that Thiaw’s subsequent actions were overblown is an almighty understatement. Never before in the VAR era has a team gone to such an extent to protest a decision, at least at this level. Under the orders of their manager, green shirts went from surrounding the referee, to lingering on the touchline, to disappearing entirely. Well, almost entirely.

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Senegal manager Pape Thiaw ordering his players off the pitch (Reuters)

If not for talisman Sadio Mane’s defiance, whose visible desperation to restart the game likely provided incentive for Ndala to hold off on any decision to abandon the match, Senegal’s walk-off could have sparked an even more stunning turn of events on Africa’s biggest stage. An Afcon final realistically could have ended in a forfeit. By the book, it should have.

Under Afcon regulations, if a team “refuses to play or leaves the ground before the regular end of the match without the authorisation of the referee”, they will be deemed the loser and their opponents will automatically be given a 3-0 win, as per Articles 82 and 84. This is supported by the Confederation of African Football’s (CAF) official rules on abandonment (Article 148), which deems that any team that “refuses to play a match or continue playing one which has begun” will forfeit the game and be subject to a fine of at least $20,000.

Financial sanctions will be considered the bare minimum punishment coming Senegal’s way, with Caf having so far condemned the “unacceptable behaviour” and said it will review footage of the Afcon final ahead of disciplinary proceedings. But Morocco will demand more. It’s the Atlas Lions that are now the ones racked by injustice.

Morocco were forced to wait in the intensifying Rabat rain while Senegal’s strop unfolded, one which culminated in Brahim Diaz’s moment of misery. They now are left dejected, their dream of a first Afcon title in 50 years dashed, and Senegal are champions - albeit in name only.

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Brahim Diaz’s missed penalty in the 24th minute of stoppage time cost Morocco a first Afcon title in 50 years (AFP/Getty)

Now comes the fallout of one of football’s most chaotic nights, with the game’s governing bodies left to make a critical decision. The Royal Moroccan Football Federation has confirmed its intention to pursue legal action with Caf and Fifa to rule Senegal’s walk-off. The fight for retribution has begun.

Fifa were approached by The Independent regarding any precedent for such an incident, and they were unable to provide any. It therefore falls to the game’s leaders and lawmakers to set a precedent. In a World Cup year, it must be the right one.

“It is unacceptable to leave the field of play in this manner, and equally, violence cannot be tolerated in our sport, it is simply not right,” Fifa president Gianni Infantino said in an initial statement, suggesting that subsequent action will need to act as a deterrence for the future.

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Gianni Infantino has suggested that subsequent rulings will need to act as a deterrence from emulating Senegal’s actions in the future (Reuters)

“We must always respect the decisions taken by the match officials on and off the field of play. Teams must compete on the pitch and within the Laws of the Game, because anything less puts the very essence of football at risk. –

“The ugly scenes witnessed today must be condemned and never repeated. I reiterated that they have no place in football and I expect that the relevant disciplinary bodies at Caf will take the appropriate measures.”

There will be an argument for Senegal to be stripped of their title, given that by Caf’s own rulebook, their actions were grounds to forfeit the final. Such a verdict will naturally be highly contentious, though maybe it’s warranted to prevent such a circus from unfolding at this level again.

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Could Senegal be stripped of their Afcon crown? (AP)

But of course, Senegal will have a defence. They’ll argue that they did not complete a full refusal to play - they stopped play momentarily but did eventually come back to finish the match - which could prevent Caf and Fifa from going scorched earth. Accusations of favouritism towards host nation Morocco - which coach Walid Regragui firmly rejected - may also be levied, fuelled by the two questionable stoppage-time decisions that went against Senegal.

Simply, the regulations must now be reviewed to decide what constitutes match abandonment. How long does a team have to refuse to play to be deemed refusing to play? When does a protest turn into a complete disregard for the rules?

From conspiracies to comeuppance, there is still so much of this story to be told. For now, we just have condemnation. That will not be enough.