Patrice Motsepe: CAF President Admits One Error in AFCON 2025 Ruling After Senegal Stripped of Title

• Patrice Motsepe has come out to admit the mistake made during the CAF Appeals Board ruling of stripping Senegal of the AFCON 2025 title
• The Confederation of African Football (CAF) President pointed out some procedural errors made while delivering the verdict earlier in March 2026
• The African football governing body leader also sent a message to the Teranga Lions amid the ongoing issue between them and CAF

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) President, Patrice Motsepe, has opened up on the mistake made during the CAF Appeals Board ruling of stripping Senegal of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations title.

The CAF Appeals Board decided to award the AFCON title to Morocco, with a 3-0 win after the Teranga Lions were found guilty of forfeiting the match due to their players leaving the pitch while the game was still on.

Senegal players were not happy with the referee and Video Assistant Referee's decision to award the Atlas Lions a late penalty, and they protested by abandoning the match before Sadio Mane stepped in and the game was resumed.

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Real Madrid forward Brahim Diaz lost the resulting penalty after trying to use the Panenka style, but Edouard Mendy was right on track to save the effort. Senegal went on to win the final in extra time courtesy of a superb goal from Pape Gueye.

Motsepe admits error in AFCON 2025 ruling

Motsepe has openly acknowledged a major mistake made in the verdict of the controversial AFCON 2025 final by the CAF Appeals Board during the exco meeting on Monday, March 30, 2026.

The CAF president shared that he was surprised to learn that Tunisian Football Federation President Moez Ben Tahir Nasri was part of the team that decided to strip Senegal of the AFCON 2025 title.

The African football governing body has a rule prohibiting presidents of member associations from serving on the appeals panels, as it could compromise impartiality and bias towards the ruling.

Motsepe confirmed that he only knew about Nasri's involvement in the process after the decision had been made by the parties, and he expressed concern about the breach of proper governance.

“I wasn’t familiar with the individuals involved in making that decision, but I chose to respect the process. However, when I was told that one of them was the president of a member association, I questioned how that was even possible. They then provided several legal justifications, noting in particular that he is a lawyer and had been formally appointed.”

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Motsepe sends a message to Senegal

Motsepe also sent a message to Senegal after their football association launched an appeal against the CAF verdict of stripping them of the AFCON 2025 title.

Senegal took the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS), with the court recently confirming receiving the Teranga Lions' appeal.

The African football governing body assured Senegal that the organisation would accept any ruling CAS gives on the matter, and he refrained from giving his personal view on the matter as he felt it was not relevant at this point.

Broos slams CAF after stripping Senegal

Briefly News also reported that Broos weighed in on the Confederation of African Football (CAF) decision to strip Senegal of the AFCON 2025 title after 58 days.

The African football governing body crowned the Atlas Lions of Morocco as the winners of the competition despite losing in the final against Senegal.

Source: Briefly News