CAF President Patrice Motsepe has welcomed Senegal’s intention to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), following the CAF Apeals Board ruling.
On March 17, CAF ruled that Senegal had forfeited the match, according to Artile 82 and 84 of the AFCON Regulations, hence awarding Morocco a 3-0 victory as Champions.
He has reaffirmed that every member association has the right to pursue their case up to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and that CAF will honour and respect whatever decision is reached at the highest level.
The CAF President has stressed that no country on the African continent will receive preferential treatment and that CAF has already begun taking steps to address identified deficiencies from the AFCON final match.
Motsepe adds that the events at the final exposed long-standing issues of suspicion and distrust that CAF has been working to address since he assumed the presidency.
Meanwhile, Motsepe has defended the composition of the continent’s judicial bodies saying CAF deliberately sought respected judges and lawyers from all six regional zones across the 54 member associations to ensure credibility and impartiality, further pointing to the contrasting decisions between the CAF Disciplinary Board and the CAF Appeals Board as evidence of that independence.
By Canaan Siame
