{"id":67235,"date":"2026-03-19T15:52:32","date_gmt":"2026-03-19T15:52:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/african-football-body-president-defends-title-decision"},"modified":"2026-03-19T16:53:16","modified_gmt":"2026-03-19T16:53:16","slug":"african-football-body-president-defends-title-decision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/lesotho\/all-news\/african-football-body-president-defends-title-decision","title":{"rendered":"African Football Body President Defends Title Decision"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"ap-article-header-tag\"> <strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Lesotho. <\/strong> <\/span><b>Confederation of African Football president, Patrice Motsepe, has defended the African football body\u2019s controversial decision to strip Senegal of its Africa Cup of Nations title.<\/b><\/p>\n<p>The Lions of Teranga\u2019s 1-0 victory over Morocco in the Rabat final in January was changed by its appeals board to a 3-0 default win for the host nation.<\/p>\n<p>Motsepe said the different conclusions reached by CAF\u2019s internal bodies reflects the independence of its judicial processes.<\/p>\n<p>He said CAF had appointed judges and legal experts from across its 54 member nations to ensure integrity and neutrality in decision.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe CAF disciplinary board took one decision. The CAF appeals board took a totally different position and I&#8217;m told that Senegal is going to appeal which is very important,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>He added that countries retain the right to challenge outcomes, including through the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).<\/p>\n<p>Senegal has called for an &#8220;independent international investigation&#8221; into what it described as &#8220;suspected corruption&#8221; at CAF following the ruling.<\/p>\n<p>Motsepe says the African football body will &#8220;adhere&#8221; to and &#8220;respect&#8221; any decision taken by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA critical factor is that not a single country in Africa will be treated in a manner that is more preferential or more advantageous or more favourable than any other country on the African continent,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>Motsepe acknowledged lingering concerns over officiating and governance, describing them as a long-standing issue on the continent.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s always suspicion because it\u2019s a legacy issue&#8230; something that has been there for many, many years,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Motsepe added that CAF\u2019s priority was to ensure that supporters across Africa viewed its decisions as fair and credible.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is important for us that ordinary football supporters&#8230; regard the decisions of our judicial bodies as fair, with integrity and impartiality,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ap-article-footer-note\">Find more news and analyses on <span class=\"ap-highlight-country\">Lesotho<\/span> on the <span class=\"ap-highlight-brand\">Africa Press<\/span> website<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Lesotho. Confederation of African Football president, Patrice Motsepe, has defended the African football body\u2019s controversial decision to strip Senegal of its Africa Cup of Nations title. The Lions of Teranga\u2019s 1-0 victory over Morocco in the Rabat final in January was changed by its appeals board to a 3-0 default win for the [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":67234,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17],"tags":[1436,2475,2167,7190,245,239,1409],"class_list":["post-67235","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-afcon","tag-african-football","tag-caf","tag-court-of-arbitration-for-sport","tag-lesotho","tag-morocco","tag-senegal"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>African Football Body President Defends Title Decision - Lesotho<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"-article-header-tag&quot;&gt; Africa-Press - Lesotho. 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