If Senegal had left the AFCON final, what would have happened?
During the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2025 final, Senegalese players momentarily left the field in protest of what they believed to be subpar officiating, causing a moment of turmoil.
In the ninetieth minute, with the score still tied at zero, tensions erupted. When Morocco was given a penalty in the last minute of stoppage time, Senegal was incensed. Moments before, the Senegalese thought they had scored, but their attempt was disallowed.
Star forward Sadio Mané, who participated in his final AFCON, stated in a post-match interview that the team believed the goal should have stood if the referee had used VAR to assess the event.
Head coach Pape Thiaw was so frustrated that he told his players to get off the field and go back to the dressing room. However, Mané convinced his teammates to come back after a fifteen-minute break. Brahim Díaz’s “Panenka” penalty was saved by Senegal goalkeeper Édouard Mendy when play resumed.
Senegal would have been subject to several repercussions if they had refused to take the field again.
The CAF’s disciplinary policy states that a team that declines to participate or continue a match that has already begun faces a minimum fine of $20,000 and, in theory, forfeits the game. With such a scenario, Morocco would have received the trophy and the victory.
Additionally, individual sanctions are provided under CAF regulations. In the event that a player is found to be at fault for a match’s abandonment, they may be automatically suspended from the competition’s subsequent games without facing any additional sanctions.
AFCON and other CAF competitions involving senior national teams may be subject to suspensions that run longer than one game. A player may be barred from all CAF events and the AFCON in the event of major infractions.
Senegal may still be subject to punishment against head coach Thiaw and other disciplinary measures for their behavior even after they have returned to the field. In Rabat, the coach was booed as he arrived for his post-game press conference, but he later admitted that the team had made a mistake.
