By our reporter 18.2.2026
A month after the conclusion of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations a member of the Confederation of African Football, Samir Sobha has claimed that the host country was robbed of the title won by Senegal.
The AFCON final was marred by controversial moments in scenes that saw poor judgement by match officials, distractions by Moroccan football officials and players, a walk out by the Senegalese players and hooliganism by some of their fans.
This was after Senegal scored a goal that was disallowed and then in injury time the match referee from Congo DR awarded a penalty kick to Morocco and all hell was let loose. However, after about 15 minutes of delay Senegal came back to the field of play, Morocco lost the awarded penalty kick and Senegal went on to score a back breaking goal.
According to Mr. Sobha the moment Senegal walked out the match should have been blown off in accordance with the rules.
“Morocco were robbed,” he said in an interview published Wednesday on The Guardian. “The rules have not been respected, as they should have been in this match… After the Senegalese team left the field, all the players should have been sanctioned with a yellow card”
“We should put our ego aside and agree that an injustice has been done to the Moroccan national team.”
Controversial AFCON. Senegal players at the AFCON final.