Rabat – Patrice Motsepe, President of the Confederation of African Football (CAF), expressed great pride in the Moroccan government and the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) for their restraint in not responding to provocations from the Senegalese Football Federation.
The statement was made during Motsepe’s visit to Morocco on April 9. He was addressing the ongoing tension following the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) final when he was asked for his opinion on the ongoing provocations directed at Morocco by the Senegalese Federation.
Motsepe replied: “I am proud that the Moroccan government and the Royal Moroccan Football Federation did not respond to these inappropriate issues and provocations.”
The tension traces back to the AFCON Final held in Rabat. The match was interrupted when the Senegalese squad temporarily walked off the pitch to protest a VAR-assisted penalty awarded to Morocco.
Although the match eventually resumed and Senegal won the match on the field (0-1), the result was later overturned by CAF, which officially declared Senegal had forfeited the match due to their temporary abandonment of the pitch, changing the scoreline to a 3-0 technical victory for Morocco.
The Senegalese Football Federation (FSF) filed an immediate appeal, citing a systemic officiating bias.
Throughout the barrage of accusations from Dakar, the Moroccan government and Fouzi Lekjaa (President of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation) maintained a policy of total silence.
They issued no counter-accusations, chose not to engage in media “wars,” and insisted that the matter was strictly a legal one for the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). This is the restraint that Motsepe is explicitly praising.
Motsepe’s visit to Rabat on April 9 was part of a shuttle diplomacy mission, to resolve the ongoing tension and he signaled that CAF stands by its legal rulings and will not tolerate political pressure to overturn disciplinary decisions.
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