AFCON 2025 Final Verdict: A secret meeting before the judgment of CAF Appeal Panel
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All original articlesContrary to his public statements explaining that he was not aware of the decision made by the CAF Appeal body, President Patrice Motsepe had been alerted about a secret meeting and the future verdict by a member of its Executive Committee, Augustin Senghor.
Sport News Africa may reveal the content of a message sent by Augustin Senghor, the former president of the Senegalese Football Federation who still holds positions on the CAF Executive Committee and in the legal department, to President Patrice Motsepe.
'Dear Patrice. I know that you may be busy but I cannot wait and I prefer to send you this text about my deep concern regarding the case of the final of the Moroccan CAN 2025 pending before the CAF appeal commission. I learned by chance that the appeal committee had met behind closed doors in Cairo and had decided to withdraw Senegal’s victory and its African championship title in favor of Morocco. I hope this is a fake news, but if this information proves to be accurate, it will be a huge and unacceptable scandal for African football.”
Why did Motsepe claim not to be aware when he was alerted beforehand?
Sent before the publication of the judgment, this message raises many questions:
How and why did a secret meeting (something now usual at the CAF under the Motsepe/Véron Mosengo-Omba administration) take place?
Who are the members who took part in this meeting and for what reasons?
Why hasn’t Senghor detailed this secret meeting since the publication of the Jury’s verdict?
How could a member of the Executive Committee be aware of the decision before the official announcement?
Why did Patrice Motsepe claim not to be informed of anything when he had been personally alerted by a member of his Executive Committee?
Denounced for years by internal reports for its interference and lack of transparency, the governance of the CAF had done nothing to remedy this. Worse still, the statements of one of the judges of the appeal commission, the Djiboutian Mohamed Robleh Djama, cast a new discredit by publicly explaining that he was not present, nor even associated with the deliberations of the CAF Jury d'Appel.
It remains to be seen from now on how the CAF and its president will be able to keep this not-so-secret meeting in Cairo silent for a long time to come...