Bafana Bafana head coach Hugo Broos has questioned why it took the Confederation of African Football (CAF) two months to strip Senegal of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations title.
The CAF Appeal Board announced on Tuesday that Morocco had been crowned champions after the Lions of Teranga were deemed to have forfeited the final when they walked off the pitch in protest of the referee’s decision to award the Atlas Lions a dubious penalty in second-half stoppage time.
The match ended up being delayed for 16 minutes before Pape Thiaw’s side eventually came back out and went on to win claim a 1-0 victory in extra time through Pape Gueye after Brahim Diaz saw his Paneka penalty saved by Edouard Mendy.
Broos cited more inconsistency from CAF, having also experienced questionable decision-making from African football’s governing body when South Africa were docked three points last year for fielding the ineligible Teboho Mokoena in a 2026 World Cup qualifier against Lesotho eight months earlier.
“What I can say is CAF have shown again there is no consistency in decisions,” the Belgian said.
“It is painful for Senegal to lose the trophy. There is a rule that if you leave the pitch, you forfeit the game, and it’s done. But why don’t you do it (make the ruling) earlier, [rather than] wait for two months?
“On the other side, there is also a rule that when a team selects a player with two yellow cards, the opponents have to complain directly after the game; in 24 hours you have to send a complaint to FIFA.
“It didn’t happen when we fielded Teboho Mokoena. They decided to deduct points from us after six months, and this is something I don’t understand.
“I have said it before that you must be consistent with decisions. It’s painful for Senegal, and they could have done it much earlier. Sometimes, you don’t even have to wait for the complaint of Morocco because the rules are there.”
