Former Super Eagles midfielder Mutiu Adepoju has expressed shock over the decision of the Confederation of African Football’s decision to hand Morocco the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations trophy after stripping original winners Senegal of their title, Footynaija.com reports.
Recall that players of the Senegal national team briefly stormed off the pitch in protest of a controversial stoppage-time penalty awarded just moments after they had seen a potentially match-winning goal ruled out by the officials.
On Tuesday, CAF announced its decision to annul the victory of the Teranga Lions, revealing in a statement that “The Senegal national team is declared to have forfeited the match,” a 1-0 victory in the final, “with the result being officially recorded as 3-0” in favour of Morocco.
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However, the decision of African football’s governing body, coming two months after the tournament, has attracted plenty of criticism from around the world and Adepoju, who won the AFCON with Nigeria during his playing days, is the latest to question the recent turn of events.
What Mutiu Adepoju said
“The decision is not good. It’s not good for the image and all that,” he told Footy-Africa in a recent interview. “If a decision is going to be taken, it should have been taken a long time ago, not at the moment—not after two months. That’s just the issue that I’m having.
“I think all those back and forth shouldn’t have been. I was surprised. Why did it take this long if this is what the rules are supposed to be? I don’t know what Morocco is going to do now. Are they going to celebrate it? And what about the celebration that Senegal has done?”
The Senegalese Football Federation (FSF) has announced plans to challenge the ruling at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), maintaining that since the match was ultimately played to completion, the on-field result should be upheld.v
