Former Nigerian international Mutiu Adepoju has faulted the Confederation of African Football’s decision to strip Senegal of their 2025 Africa Cup of Nations crown.
Recall that CAF announced the decision on Tuesday evening to crown Morocco champions two months after the acrimonious conclusion to the tournament.
CAF, in a statement on Tuesday, said, “The Senegal national team is declared to have forfeited the match,” a 1-0 victory in the final, “with the result being officially recorded as 3-0” in favour of Morocco.
Reacting to the development, Adepoju, in a chat with Footy Africa, stated that the decision is not good for the image of African football.
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“Yes, definitely. The decision is not good. It’s not good for the image and all that.
“If a decision is going to be taken, it should have been taken a long time ago, not at the moment—not after two months. That’s just the issue that I’m having.
“I think all those back and forth shouldn’t have been. I was surprised. Why did it take this long if this is what the rules are supposed to be?
“I don’t know what Morocco is going to do now. Are they going to celebrate it? And what about the celebration that Senegal has done?”
At the January 18 final in Rabat, Senegal’s players walked off the pitch, led by coach Pape Thiaw, in protest against a penalty awarded late in regulation time to Morocco.
When play resumed after a delay of about 15 minutes, Morocco forward Brahim Diaz’s penalty was saved. In extra time, Pape Gueye scored the decisive goal that saw Senegal become champions of Africa for the second time.
