A French lawyer favors Morocco against Senegal in the International Court of Arbitration

It is expected that the case of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations final, between Morocco and Senegal, will go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, after the decision of the Confederation of African Football to withdraw the title from the “Lions of Teranga” and award it to the national team, in a legal file that may extend for nearly a full year.

In this context, French lawyer Romain Pezzini, a specialist in sports law and registered with the Paris Authority, favored Morocco in this dispute, stressing in statements to the newspaper “Ones Mondial” that the chances of upholding the decision in favor of the “Atlas Lions” amount to about 75 percent, given the court’s reliance on legal texts away from any emotional considerations or media pressure.

The same spokesman explained that the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which is based in Switzerland, is an independent body specialized in sports disputes, and decides on cases related to clubs, players and federations, according to a special arbitration system based on Swiss law and the regulations of the relevant sports bodies, including in this case the CAF regulations.

Bizzini pointed out that the Appeals Chamber within the court is the competent authority to consider appeals against the decisions of the disciplinary committees, highlighting that resorting to it remains the normal course after exhausting the levels of litigation within the African Union.

Regarding the procedure, the French lawyer explained that the Senegalese Federation is required to submit the appeal within a period not exceeding ten days, along with paying a fee of approximately one thousand Swiss francs, to be followed by submitting a detailed legal memorandum within an additional period, highlighting that the investigation phase may take between six and nine months, before the final ruling is issued after another months.

The same spokesman stressed that the appeal does not automatically stop the implementation of the decision, which forces the Senegalese party to submit a request for a precautionary measure if it wants to temporarily suspend the decision, provided that it is decided within a few weeks.

At the substantive level, Bizzini stressed that the file is mainly based on the extent of respect for the regulations governing the competition, especially with regard to cases of withdrawal or the unavailability of the legal number of players, highlighting that the presence of less than seven players on the field may be considered evidence of withdrawal according to the applicable texts; He also pointed out that the return of the Senegalese team to the field after the incident may open the door to interpretation, but the absence of an explicit text addressing this situation may prompt the court to adopt a strict interpretation of the regulations.