Following the appeal filed by the Senegalese Football Federation with the Court of Arbitration for Sport to contest the CAF's decision awarding the final to Morocco by default, the standoff is intensifying. On the eve of the Senegal-Peru friendly match scheduled for Saturday at the Stade de France, Moroccan lawyer Mourad Elajouti claims to have taken steps to prevent any public display of the AFCON trophy in Saint-Denis.
A Moroccan counter-offensive after the Senegalese press conference
A few hours after the press conference held in Paris by the Senegalese Football Federation and its legal team to detail their appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), Morocco's response took the form of a legal statement circulated on social media. The FSF, supported by a team of international lawyers, intends to have the March 17th decision overturned, while the CAS officially confirmed that it had registered the appeal on March 25th.
Mourad Elajouti, presented by several Moroccan media outlets as president of the Lawyers' Club in Morocco, initially published a text defending what he described as the end of a "thuggery" on African pitches, before taking a tougher stance on the trophy issue.
The Stade de France and GL events have been issued formal notices.
Two formal notices have reportedly been sent to the Stade de France operating company and to the GL events group, the stadium's new operator under the concession granted by the French state. The official Stade de France website also confirms that the Senegal-Peru match will take place on March 28 at 17 p.m.
The Moroccan lawyer argues that any trophy presentation ceremony would be based on a title stripped from Senegal by the sporting authorities, and that the entities participating in the event could be held liable. At this stage, no public decision from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) suspends the decision rendered by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
A trophy that remains at the heart of the dispute between Morocco and Senegal
The dispute stems from the CAF Appeals Committee's decision, published on March 17, which declared Senegal ineligible to participate in the final of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco and ratified the match with a 3-0 scoreline in favor of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation. However, Senegal still considers itself the winner on the pitch and has maintained its plan to present the trophy to its fans during the match against Peru at the Stade de France.
In its statement, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) specifies that the Senegalese Football Federation (FSF) is requesting not only the annulment of the CAF's decision, but also to be declared the winner of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON). The arbitration body adds that no precise timetable can yet be established, particularly because the FSF is demanding notification of the full reasons for the CAF's decision.
The legal grounds invoked to request the seizure of the trophy
Mr. Elajouti invokes Article 835 of the Code of Civil Procedure to characterize a manifestly unlawful disturbance, Article 1240 of the Civil Code to support a potential claim for damages, and Article 1961 of the Civil Code to request, in summary proceedings, the judicial seizure of the trophy, on the grounds that it is property whose possession is disputed. These three references do indeed exist in French law and correspond respectively to the powers of the summary proceedings judge, extra-contractual civil liability, and the judicial deposit of disputed movable property.
As things stand, the matter remains suspended, tied to two distinct timeframes: the immediate one of the Senegal-Peru match at the Stade de France and a potential trophy presentation, and the longer-term one of the arbitration proceedings before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). Meanwhile, the dispute surrounding the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations continues to play out both in the courts and in the public debate.
