PARIS (AP) — Senegal players paraded the Africa Cup of Nations trophy in front of thousands of fans on Saturday, despite the Confederation of African Football’s decision to strip the country of the title and award it to Morocco.
Ahead of a friendly match against Peru at Stade de France, Senegal players led by captain Kalidou Koulibaly took to the pitch with the trophy as part of pre-game celebrations.
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The Senegalese Football Association had announced it would present the Africa Cup trophy to its fans before the game. Paris has a significant Senegalese community.
Earlier this week in the French capital, Senegalese FA president Abdoulaye Fall said Senegal was the victim of “ the most grossly unfair administrative robbery” in the history of soccer and pledged that the country would defend its players’ “honor” at the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Senegal is challenging CAF’s surprise ruling last week to strip the team of the title won in a chaotic final in January and give it to host nation Morocco.
Senegal’s legal team said the country still considers itself the champion of Africa. The CAF ’s appeals board ruled that Senegal is “declared to have forfeited the final” and its 1-0 win in extra time became a 3-0 default win for Morocco. The rationale was that Senegal players led by their coach had left the field in protest when Morocco was awarded a penalty, leading to a 15-minute stoppage.
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Senegal’s appeal to be reinstated as champion was registered this week by CAS, which set no timetable for a likely long process toward a verdict. The appeal was promised by the Senegalese government, which also called for an international investigation “into suspected corruption” within CAF.
An appeal to CAS can typically take months to schedule a hearing then weeks or months more to announce a verdict. Senegal’s lawyers, however, will ask CAS to open an expedited procedure and hope the Moroccan federation and the CAF agree so that the case can be dealt with within two months.
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