Senegal parade AFCON trophy despite being stripped of title

Senegal paraded the Africa Cup of Nations trophy prior to their friendly against Peru on Saturday, despite being officially stripped of the title.

Captain Kalidou Koulibaly and his teammates entered the pitch at the Stade de France with the trophy, taking part in a lap of honour before the the silverware was placed in the stadium’s presidential box.

Senegal’s football chief, Abdoulaye Fall, had earlier said such a display would take place, describing the decision to overturn Senegal’s triumph as the “most blatant administrative robbery in the history of our sport”.

Fall insisted that “Senegal will not bend the knee and will not compromise its values. Our fight now transcends the football pitch.”

Last week, the Confederation of African Football (CAF) announced that the title had been awarded to Morocco almost two months after a controversial final was eventually won by Senegal thanks to an extra-time winner from Villarreal midfielder Pape Gueye.

Gueye’s goal came following remarkable scenes at the end of normal time that saw Senegal refuse to play after tournament hosts Morocco were awarded a highly contentious penalty late on.

After leaving the pitch, resulting in a delay of around 17 minutes, Senegal’s players returned to finish the match, which went to extra time after Brahim Diaz’s ill-advised Panenka was saved.

Fury turned to joy for Senegal following Gueye’s winner, but CAF stripped them of the title following an appeal by Morocco.

Senegal launch appeal

Senegal have subsequently lodged their own appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which has said it will rule on the matter “as swiftly as possible”.

The friendly against Peru is Senegal’s first match since the AFCON final and forms part of their preparations for the World Cup, which starts in June.

The Lions of Teranga have been drawn in the same group as France, Norway and either Bolivia or Iraq.