Senegal AFCON appeal proceedings kicked off Thursday at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne where Senegal is appealing the decision setback to itself at the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) to award the championship to Morocco.
The hearing comes after a controversial end to the game, when tournament host Morocco drew Senegal’s only goal in extra time via Pape Gueye. Several Senegalese players left the field in protest after Morocco were awarded a late penalty which overshadowed the match.
The penalty was then dislodged by Morocco’s Brahim Diaz and the game continued as Senegal’s players came back just shy of 20 minutes later. Senegal won, but this was overturned in March by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) who gave Morocco a 3-0 win.
CAF decision stated that Senegal violated the rules that forbade teams from leaving the field without permission from the referee. The ruling was rejected as the unparalleled administrative injustice by Senegal and the trophy was still presented to supporters after the ruling.
The opening hearing was over five hours Thursday, in closed session. Matthieu Reeb, CAS general manager, admitted that supporters’ wait could be long and likely drag on for days or weeks.
Senegalese Football Federation president Abdoulaye Sow wished that sports law would be respected, saying it was important to safeguard the dignity and honour of Africa. Morocco’s delegation did not make any public comment following the first session.
The conflict is also a matter of who is in charge of the match and how to apply the rules of football. Thibault Ulrich, a sports law researcher, has condemned CAF’s decision as unduly harsh, saying the referee should have opted to suspend the match for the moment because of the ‘loose ball’.
