Senegal Secured the Cup; Now Sanctions From CAF Are Coming

The African Football Confederation announced a series of disciplinary and financial measures against both national teams that participated in the 2025 AFCON final.

All the excitement of AFCON 2025 exclusively on beIN Sports

Senegal retains the cup, faces sanctions.

Senegal was spared having the Africa Cup of Nations title it won a couple of weeks ago stripped from it; however, CAF imposed a five-match ban on the head coach.

The African Football Confederation imposed harsh sanctions on several Senegalese players and on the head coach of the “Lions of Teranga” national team. The fine for Pape Thiaw, as coach, will be approximately 100,000 dollars for “unsportsmanlike conduct, violation of the principles of fair play and integrity, and tarnishing the image of football,” since it was the coach who urged his players to walk off the pitch after the referee awarded a penalty to the Moroccan team.

More sanctions

Two players will also be sanctioned for what happened. Senegalese players Illiman Ndiaye and Ismaila Sarr will be unable to play in the next two matches after behaving in an unsportsmanlike manner toward the referee.

Morocco’s iconic player Achraf Hakimi will also be sanctioned by CAF and suspended for two matches, and another member of the Moroccan national team, Ismael Sabari, has been suspended for three future games and fined 100,000 dollars for “unsportsmanlike” conduct.

Morocco and Senegal: Sanctioned

The two players each received individual fines and suspensions, but there were also collective penalties, as CAF fined the Senegalese federation a total of $615,000 for the behavior of its fans and the “unsportsmanlike conduct of the coaching staff and players.”

Meanwhile, Morocco has racked up fines totaling $315,000 due to the “inappropriate behavior of the ball boys,” “invasion of the VAR review area by the coaching staff and bench,” and “interference with the referee’s work.”

The truth is that the motion to award the African Cup of Nations to Morocco, presented by its leadership, was rejected, and therefore the trophy will remain in the hands of the Senegalese team, although some of its members were sanctioned.