William Troost-Ekong has become the most prominent voice speaking out against the CAF ruling that handed Morocco the AFCON 2025 title two months after Senegal won the final on the pitch.
William Troost-Ekong did not mince words. The former Super Eagles captain, who retired from international football after AFCON 2025, has come out strongly against the Confederation of African Football’s decision to strip Senegal of the continental title and award it to Morocco, describing the moment he heard the news as deeply unsettling and the ruling itself as something no footballer should ever have to experience.
“When I first heard the news that the result of this year’s AFCON final between Senegal and Morocco had been overturned, I thought it was a joke,” Troost-Ekong wrote in a piece for The Athletic. “When I realised it was actually real, after reading the official statement from CAF, it just made me feel quite sad.”
Senegal defeated Morocco 1-0 in the final in January, winning after extra time in a tense contest. The match was briefly interrupted when Senegal’s players walked off the pitch in protest after the referee awarded Morocco a disputed penalty. They returned and completed the game, but CAF’s Appeal Board later ruled that the walkout breached tournament regulations, citing Articles 82 and 84 of AFCON’s rules, which allow a team to be considered to have forfeited if they leave the field without the referee’s permission. Morocco appealed, and CAF awarded them a 3-0 victory. The decision ended 49 years of Atlas Lions heartbreak at the continental tournament.
“You Have to Earn It on the Pitch”
Troost-Ekong’s argument was direct. Trophies belong to the teams that win them on the field. Anything else, he said, feels wrong, regardless of the rules invoked to justify it.
“Every African player wants to win this tournament but would I celebrate now if I was in Morocco’s shoes? Absolutely not. I would feel ashamed to win like this. It wouldn’t feel right. You have to earn it on the pitch. I don’t think I would be able to accept it, but if you publicly decline a medal or trophy then that also becomes a circus. It definitely can’t be celebrated.”
He drew on his own experience to make the point. Troost-Ekong captained Nigeria in the 2023 AFCON final in Abidjan, a match the Super Eagles lost 2-1 to hosts Ivory Coast in painful circumstances. “I would never go back and change the outcome of a final I was in and lost,” he said. “I wouldn’t want to change it.” That kind of conviction carries weight coming from someone who has lived through the heartbreak of a final defeat.
A Ruling That Cuts Deep for Senegal’s Players
Troost-Ekong also spoke at length about what the decision must feel like for the Senegalese squad. They played the final, won it, celebrated it, and believed for two months that they were African champions. To have that stripped away by an administrative ruling is a blow that goes beyond the trophy itself.
“I would be so upset to play in a tournament and for the result to be changed afterwards. Senegal will always claim they are the winners, and I would do the exact same thing, but other people will question that now. I can’t imagine how those players are feeling.”
Senegal’s football federation has announced plans to take the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, a process that could take up to a year. The ruling also raises questions about its compatibility with IFAB laws, which traditionally hold that a referee’s match result is final. African football governance finds itself in turbulent territory, with the credibility of the continent’s showpiece tournament now a subject of global debate. Nigerian fans watching this play out will know the feeling of a painful verdict handed down by football’s administrators all too well, given the current appeal the NFF is pursuing over the 2026 World Cup play-off against DR Congo. Read the latest on that story and more at FootballInNigeria.com.ng, where you can also find the current Bet9ja promotion code for Nigerian football bettors.
📌 Did You Know?
- Troost-Ekong won the AFCON 2023 Most Valuable Player award despite Nigeria losing the final to Ivory Coast — an unusual distinction that reflected his outstanding individual performances throughout the tournament in Abidjan.
- Morocco’s Atlas Lions last won the Africa Cup of Nations in 1976, meaning the CAF ruling, if it stands, ends a 49-year wait for the title, the joint longest AFCON drought ever ended by any nation winning the trophy.
- The Articles 82 and 84 of AFCON regulations that CAF cited to justify the ruling have rarely been enforced in the tournament’s history, making the decision against Senegal a largely unprecedented application of the rule.
- Troost-Ekong made his Super Eagles debut in September 2015 against Tanzania and went on to accumulate over 80 international caps before announcing his retirement from the national team following AFCON 2025 in Morocco.
- Senegal won their first-ever AFCON title in 2021/22, defeating Egypt on penalties in the final in Cameroon. If CAS overturns the CAF ruling, the 2025 edition would be their second continental title in four years.
- The Court of Arbitration for Sport handled a similar high-profile African football case in 2022 when it ruled on the eligibility dispute involving Ivory Coast midfielder Serge Aurier’s eligibility, setting a precedent for how CAS approaches continental governing body decisions.
- Nigeria’s own AFCON 2025 campaign ended with a third-place finish, with the Super Eagles defeating South Africa in the bronze medal match — their best continental finish since winning the title outright in 2013.
