AFCON 2025 of controversy

Prior to the African Cup of Nations (AFCON) 2025 tournament, there had been questions over the 2025 CAF Awards held in Rabat, Morocco, in which Moroccan players swept almost everything on offer. Morocco’s Ghizlane Chebbak won the Women’s Player of the Year, but there were many who felt that the award should have gone to either Esther Okoronkwo or Rasheedat Ajibade of the Super Falcons of Nigeria, given their club performances during the period under review, and at the WAFCON. Morocco’s Lamia Boumehdi won the Women’s Coach of the Year award despite her team, TP Mazembe, finishing third at the CAF Women’s Champions League. She picked up the award ahead of Justin Madugu, the man who led Nigeria’s Super Falcons to a record tenth WAFCON trophy.

But the 2025 AFCON held in the Kingdom of Morocco did not provide better spectacle. For most people, its most enduring image will not be the excellent facilities and the phenomenal football played by various teams. No. It will be the Teranga Lions of Senegal storming off the pitch during the final match against the Atlas Lions of Morocco. The incident, unprecedented in AFCON history, was the outcome of various alleged provocative moves against visiting teams and their fans throughout the tournament, and so the field abandonment incident will always be pitched against chaotic scenes of ball boys and professional players stealing goalkeepers’ towels, the wrestling down of a reserve Senegalese goalkeeper trying to protect his colleague, Edouard Mendy’s towels, traditionally used to dry gloves and keep the ball from slipping off, especially so on rainy days; and disturbing incidents of Morocco fans throwing bananas at Stanley Nwabali, making racist chants, and unleashing a torrent of abuses. It will also be pitched against many complaints ahead of the final, including by the Senegalese football federation.

Reacting to the unsavoury scenes during the tournament, the Confédération Africaine de Football (CAF) condemned the “unacceptable behaviour of some players and officials during the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025 Final between Morocco and Senegal in Rabat” and “any inappropriate behaviour which occurred during matches, especially those targeting the refereeing team or match organisers.” It promised to review all footage and refer the matter to competent bodies for appropriate action.  It claimed that throughout the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025, it had worked together with the Local Organising Committee to ensure that all teams were subjected to the same conditions.” Subsequently, the CAF Disciplinary Board handed down punishment over the match between Algeria and Nigeria on January 10, 2026, during which Algerian players had protested what they felt was biased officiating against them.

It suspended Algeria goalkeeper Luca Zidane for two CAF official matches with the Algeria national team for misconduct and his fellow teammate, Rafik Belghali, for four CAF official matches with the Algeria national team for aggressive and intimidating behaviour towards the match referee at the end of the match. It also imposed a fine of USD 5,000 on the Algerian Football Federation for the conduct of the senior (“A”) national team,  a fine of USD 25,000 on the Algerian Football Federation due to the inappropriate behaviour of its players and officials at the end of the match, which brought the match into disrepute, in violation of Articles 82 and 83 of the CAF Disciplinary Code; a fine of USD 5,000 on the Algerian Football Federation for the use of smoke devices by its supporters; among other series of sanctions. The biggest sanctions are of course still being awaited.

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Although the quality of football was widely praised, with many commentators crediting the Super Eagles of Nigeria with playing the “best football” at the tournament, AFCON 2025 was marred by disputed penalties and VAR decisions in matches involving the host nation, Morocco, particularly in the quarter-final against Cameroon, the semi-final against Nigeria, and the final against Senegal; incidents of towel snatching, including the seizure of Nigeria’s goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali’s towel and Senegalese goalkeeper Édouard Mendy’s towels; clashes between Senegalese fans and Moroccan police, and inadequate security measures at the stadium. The tournament was also marred by thinly disguised favouritism towards the host nation, Morocco, and alleged corruption within CAF, the use of laser lights during matches, and misbehaviour by ball boys and officials. There were also issues such as poor organisation and logistical problems; unsportsmanlike behaviour, media and press conflicts, as well as stadium and security concerns.

But perhaps the most persistent of the problems related to refereeing decisions that appeared to favour the host nation. Cameroon federation’s president Samuel Eto’o faced severe sanctions after protesting refereeing decisions. Yet he could hardly be faulted. For instance, in the final minutes of Morocco’s game against Tanzania, the referee ignored Adam Masina’s foul on a Tanzanian player and the penalty that many analysts pointed out should have resulted. During the Atlas Lions’ game quarterfinal match against the Indomitable Lions of Cameroon, Referee Dahana Beida ignored Nayef Aguerd’s elbow strike on Christian Kofane, a penalty after a foul on forward Bryan Mbeumo, and a brutal tackle by Bilal El Khannouss following a Cameroon offensive.

The same pattern of questionable officiating was pointed out during the Atlas Lions’ semifinal match against Nigeria, a game in which Moroccan players were seen urging the referee to issue yellow cards against their opponents while benefiting from questionable decisions and deliberately kicking the ball into the stands, while ball boys and officials kept harassing goalkeeper Stanley Nwabali. During that game, Nigerian fans complained that only very few of them were allowed into the stadium and that they were scattered among fans of the Atlas Lions. But worse things happened. Going by CAF’s rules, “a Fair Play trophy shall be awarded to the team that will have shown the best fair-play spirit during the final phase of the Africa Cup of Nations, in conformity with the CAF Fair Play regulations.” Strangely, however, the Atlas Lions won the Fair Play award despite the objectionable conduct of their players on and off the pitch, including a viral scene in which the reigning African Footballer of the Year, PSG forward Achraf Hakimi, openly tossed Senegal goalkeeper’s towel off the pitch.

We deplore the unholy antics at AFCON 2025 and call for an overhaul of the CAF leadership. In every conceivable sense, the tournament was made to look like a rigged competition, and the number of analysts who feel that Senegal’s win actually saved African football has been growing. Among other disturbing spectacles, the FIFA president, Giovanni Infantino, pointedly refused to hand over the AFCON trophy to the Teranga Lions despite finding the time to present the Golden Boot award to Morocco forward, Brahim Diaz. These spectacles are gory, to say the least. It is not enough to have standard facilities at tournaments; organisation and officiating must be fair and be seen to be fair. It is egregious that fans of the Atlas Lions continued chanting racist songs even after the final.