Senegal take appeal of Afcon final decision to sport’s highest court | OneFootball

The Senegal Football Federation (FSF) will appeal the decision to overturn the Africa Cup of Nations final result to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas), lodging a formal complaint against Morocco being awarded the title.

Cas, sport’s highest court, confirmed it had received the FSF’s appeal on Wednesday, a week after Confederation of African Football (Caf) Appeal Board ruled Senegal had forfeited the Africa Cup of Nations final and stripped them of their title.

A three-person panel will now be “appointed to consider this matter”, a statement from Cas said. “Following this, a procedural calendar will be established.”

Senegal were stripped of the Afcon title following a Confederation of African Football (Caf) Appeal Board verdict (AP)

It could take weeks, if not months, to determine the outcome of the appeal, however, with the FSF invited to submit their legal arguments and Caf allowed to reply with a statement of defence.

The Caf appeal board investigated a complaint from the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) that the referee Jean-Jacques Ndala should have ruled Senegal forfeited the match when the players returned to the dressing room for 14 minutes in protest of hosts Morocco being awarded a controversial late penalty.

According to 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.

CAF has also confirmed it is following its own rules, saying in its statement that Senegal “infringed Article 82 of the Regulations of the Africa Cup of Nations” and “in application of Article 84 ... the Senegal team is declared to have forfeited the match”.