JAKARTA - The Senegal national team still showed off the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) trophy to the public even though their champion status had been revoked by the Confederation of African Football (CAF).
The symbolic action was quoted from Antara, which was carried out before the friendly match against Peru at the Stade de France, Paris on March 28, 2026.
Based on the upload of Senegal's official account on social media on Sunday, March 29, about an hour before kickoff, the players along with coach Pape Bouna Thiaw entered the field carrying the trophy in front of tens of thousands of spectators.
Amid the controversy, Senegal remained solid on the field by winning 2-0 over Peru.
Nicolas Jackson opened the scoring in the 41st minute after taking advantage of a brilliant individual move from Ibrahima Mbaye. Ismaila Sarr then doubled the score in the 54th minute after maximizing the rebound and passing two defenders.
This was Senegal's first win since the January AFCON final, where they beat Morocco before their title was revoked.
CAF through the appeals body then determined Morocco as the champion after Senegal walked out for 14 minutes in the final match.
Senegal did not stay silent and is now suing the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). Coach Pape Bouna Thiaw even asserted his belief by calling his team the legitimate African champion.
As a form of resistance, Senegal also continues to wear a jersey with two stars that symbolize the 2021 and 2025 AFCON titles, pending a formal decision from CAS.
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