By Ben Efe 19.3.2026
African football legend and former Liberia President George Weah said the CAF Appeal Board ruling stripping Senegal of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations title must not be allowed to stand.
Weah, a two times winner of the African Player of the Year and the only African player to have won the Ballon d’Or submitted that there was no justification for stripping Senegal and awarding the match to Morocco the hosts after the match had been won and lost on the pitch and the match referee had signed off on it.
“In football, the Laws of the Game are clear: the referee on the pitch is the final authority on decisions made during the match. Once play is allowed to continue and the match is completed, the result obtained on the field must stand,” said Weah in a statement.
“CAF regulations are in line with the FIFA Laws of the Game, which provide that:
“The referee has full authority to enforce the Laws of the Game in connection with the match to which he has been appointed, and his decisions on facts connected with play are final.”
“— Law 5, Laws of the Game (applied by all Confederations including CAF competitions). In the present case of the final AFCON match between Senegal and Morocco, the referee allowed the match to continue after the walk-off by Senegal, and the game was completed, including extra time, with a result obtained on the field of play.
“Additionally, post match, the referee report noted a stoppage during the match, not a forfieture and recommended appropiate sanctions for the infractions during the match.”
He argued that allowing the verdict to stand will send African football “down a slippery slope where committee room officials and not match officials will be making post match rulings to override referees on-field decisions like penalties, offside and red cards.”
He called on the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) and other relevant authorities “to move decisively so that this travesty does not stand.”