The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has provided new details about the October 8 hearing concerning the dispute over the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations final, confirming that proceedings will begin at 9:30 a.m. and continue into the afternoon.
In an operational note sent to the media on Wednesday, September 30, CAS confirmed that the hearing will be held in person at its headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.
As previously announced, the proceedings will take place behind closed doors, as none of the parties requested a public hearing. Media representatives will therefore not be allowed to attend.
Representatives of the Senegalese Football Federation (FSF) and the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) will travel to Lausanne to attend the hearing in person, while the Confederation of African Football (CAF), the third party involved in the proceedings, will be represented by its legal advisers.
CAS has also announced the composition of the three-member panel that will examine the case. It will be chaired by Frenchman Gérald Simon, alongside Italy’s Luigi Fumagalli and Germany’s Ulrich Haas. The parties have also agreed that the proceedings will be conducted entirely in French.
The hearing follows an appeal filed by the Senegalese Football Federation against CAF and the FRMF after the decision of the continental body’s Appeals Committee concerning the outcome of the 2025 AFCON final.
On March 17, 2026, CAF’s Appeals Committee ruled, following an appeal filed by the FRMF, on the application of Articles 82 and 84 of the competition regulations in relation to the events that marked the final.
The dispute dates back to January 18, when Senegal’s players left the pitch for 16 minutes at the Moulay Abdellah Sports Complex in Rabat on the instructions of coach Pape Thiaw. The players were protesting a refereeing decision to award Morocco a penalty in second-half stoppage time.
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Senegal went on to win the match through Pape Gueye’s 94th-minute goal. The case took a major turn on March 17, however, when CAF’s Appeals Committee upheld the Moroccan appeal and awarded Morocco a 3-0 victory by forfeit. The Senegalese Football Federation then decided to take the case to CAS.
The final ruling will not be delivered on October 8. Once the hearing concludes, the three arbitrators will begin their deliberations.
CAS said it is not currently in a position to announce when its decision will be issued, while confirming that no ruling will be delivered on the day of the hearing.
