Senegal, who won the Africa Cup of Nations title in a controversial final against hosts Morocco in January – only to be stripped of their victory weeks later – have paraded the trophy ahead of a friendly against Peru at the Stade de France in Paris, Aljazeera reports.
Senegal captain Kalidou Koulibaly and his teammates came out onto the pitch with the AFCON trophy on Saturday for a lap of honour after a pre-match concert by Senegalese superstar Youssou N’Dour.
Koulibaly and goalkeeper Edouard Mendy went up to the stadium’s presidential box to place the trophy there in front of Abdoulaye Fall, the president of the Senegalese Football Federation, among others.
Only hours earlier, Morocco had declared the case for the trophy closed, following the Confederation of African Football (CAF) ruling that Senegal’s 1-0 win in January’s final was to be overturned following the mid-game walk-off by their players.
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CAF’s appeals panel awarded Morocco a 3-0 win and with it, the title.
Senegal have said they will take their own appeal back to CAF and to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which could take a year to rule.
The Senegalese government has called for an independent international inquiry into CAF’s decision, alleging corruption should also be looked into.
Senegal’s players left the field in normal time during the final in protest at a penalty awarded to Morocco, which – upon the Senegalese return after a 14-minute delay – was missed.
The match on the day was settled by Pape Gueye’s strike in extra time. Morocco immediately appealed the result, but were initially rebuffed by CAF.
