HIBAPRESS – Sports
The British newspaper Daily Star sparked a wide wave of controversy after its explicit call to withdraw the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations title from the Senegal national team, against the backdrop of the chaotic events that accompanied the final of the tournament, describing what happened as a "dangerous precedent that affects the essence of sports integrity and threatens the credibility of African football."
The newspaper confirmed that Senegal's crowning came in a match that "lost all the meanings of sportsmanship," after it stopped at a decisive moment as a result of sharp protests from the Senegalese technical staff, considering that what happened does not align with the value of a continental final that is supposed to be a comprehensive football celebration. According to the newspaper, the spark of chaos began when the referee awarded a penalty in favor of the Moroccan national team in stoppage time, while the match was pointing to a goalless draw. The decision ignited the anger of Senegal coach, Papy Thiaw, who instructed his players to leave the field, in an unprecedented act during the final of a continental tournament. Daily Star added that the tension escalated further after a goal by Senegalese Ismaila Sarr was canceled due to a controversial foul, which led to a loss of control over the course of the match and its transformation from a sporting confrontation to a chaotic scene that angered the followers. The British newspaper went further, considering that the actions of the Senegal coach represent a direct insult to the image of African football, calling for his lifetime suspension, and stressing that leniency with such behaviors may lead the game into a "dangerous area whose repercussions are difficult to control." It also stressed that keeping the title in the coffers of Senegal, despite the events that accompanied the final, opens the door to questioning the integrity of the competition, considering that withdrawing the cup and giving it to Morocco constitutes, from its point of view, "a necessary solution to protect the reputation of the continental tournament." In the absence of any official response from FIFA or the African Union, the newspaper saw that this silence increases the intensity of the controversy, and raises deep questions about the mechanisms for dealing with arbitration and disciplinary crises in the finals of major tournaments. The Daily Star concluded its report by emphasizing that the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations final will not be immortalized because of its technical level, but will remain present in memory as one of the most controversial finals in the history of African football.
