Claude Leroy, former coach of Cameroon and Senegal, has strongly criticized the Confederation of African Football (CAF), accusing it of favoring Morocco in the attribution of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) at the expense of Senegal. During his appearance on L'Équipe du Soir this Tuesday, March 17, 2026, he did not hesitate to call the situation "pitiful for the image that CAF gives".
Leroy stated that CAF's decision to declare Senegal forfeited in the AFCON 2025 final and award the trophy to Morocco was not based on legal grounds but rather on political considerations. He directly implicated Patrice Motsepe, the president of CAF, and Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA, calling them respectively a "vassal" and the "Trump of African football". According to Leroy, Infantino would allow himself to intervene excessively in the affairs of African football.
"I couldn't have imagined for a second that CAF would go so far in the farcical," Leroy declared. He emphasized that Morocco would benefit from significant political support within the governing bodies, particularly due to the current electoral context at FIFA. On the sporting and legal front, Leroy insisted that the only legal sanction would have been to issue yellow cards to the Senegalese players who left the field. He questioned the justification for the victory awarded to Morocco on a technicality, calling it "more than feeble, it is haphazard".
The former coach of the Indomitable Lions predicted that this case was not over and that Senegal would eventually get justice. The Senegalese Football Federation (FSF) has announced its intention to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAS) within 48 hours. Indeed, CAF has officially awarded the victory of AFCON 2025 to Morocco after disqualifying Senegal, a decision following incidents during the final where Senegalese players left the field to protest an arbitration decision. The TAS will therefore be seized to rule on the validity of this decision.
