{"id":81702,"date":"2026-03-21T12:42:57","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T12:42:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/hakimi-rejects-afcon-title-as-morocco-captain"},"modified":"2026-03-21T12:47:29","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T12:47:29","slug":"hakimi-rejects-afcon-title-as-morocco-captain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/hakimi-rejects-afcon-title-as-morocco-captain","title":{"rendered":"Hakimi Rejects AFCON Title As Morocco Captain"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #ff6600\"><strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Zambia. <\/strong><\/span>Morocco captain Achraf Hakimi rejects the AFCON title.<\/p>\n<p>Morocco captain Achraf Hakimi has publicly rejected the Confederation of African Football\u2019s decision to award his country the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations title, insisting that Senegal deserved to be champions following their victory on the pitch.<\/p>\n<p>In a strongly worded statement, the Paris Saint-Germain defender made clear that he and his teammates should not accept the trophy, despite CAF\u2019s ruling to strip Senegal of the title.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMy mum told me to reject the AFCON trophy. I\u2019m officially rejecting the trophy and hope my teammates do the same. We had a chance to win it, but we failed to win it,\u201d Hakimi said.<\/p>\n<p>The Moroccan captain acknowledged that Senegal were rightful winners after their performance in the January 18 final, which saw the Teranga Lions triumph 1-0 after extra time despite a dramatic walk-off by Senegal players to protest a late penalty decision.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s football; sometimes you win and sometimes you lose. Senegal beat us fairly and deserved the win. It will be unfair to ruin their joy after the hard work they put in.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Hakimi added that while he respects CAF\u2019s position, he cannot accept a title he believes Morocco did not earn on the field.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI respect the CAF decision, but I\u2019m officially rejecting the trophy. I didn\u2019t win the 2025 AFCON. Congratulations to Senegal once again.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His comments mark a rare moment in international football, with a player openly declining recognition in favour of sporting integrity.<\/p>\n<p>On March 17, CAF\u2019s Appeal Board ruled that Senegal\u2019s walk-off constituted a forfeiture under tournament regulations, annulling the 1-0 Senegal victory and awarding Morocco a 3-0 win. Senegal has indicated it will appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.<\/p>\n<p><strong>For More News And Analysis About <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Zambia<\/span> Follow <span style=\"color: #ff6600\">Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Zambia. Morocco captain Achraf Hakimi rejects the AFCON title. Morocco captain Achraf Hakimi has publicly rejected the Confederation of African Football\u2019s decision to award his country the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations title, insisting that Senegal deserved to be champions following their victory on the pitch. In a strongly worded statement, the Paris [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":81700,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7,8,17,248],"tags":[233],"class_list":["post-81702","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-head-lines","category-homepage-english","category-sport","category-to-homepage","tag-zambia"],"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>Hakimi Rejects AFCON Title As Morocco Captain - Zambia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Morocco captain Achraf Hakimi rejects the AFCON title. Morocco captain Achraf Hakimi has publicly rejected the Confeder ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/hakimi-rejects-afcon-title-as-morocco-captain\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Hakimi Rejects AFCON Title As Morocco Captain\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Morocco captain Achraf Hakimi rejects the AFCON title. Morocco captain Achraf Hakimi has publicly rejected the Confeder ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/hakimi-rejects-afcon-title-as-morocco-captain\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Zambia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-21T12:42:57+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-03-21T12:47:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2026\/03\/sm_1774097213.432023.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"405\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/hakimi-rejects-afcon-title-as-morocco-captain#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/hakimi-rejects-afcon-title-as-morocco-captain\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Hakimi Rejects AFCON Title As Morocco Captain\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-21T12:42:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-21T12:47:29+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/hakimi-rejects-afcon-title-as-morocco-captain\"},\"wordCount\":313,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/hakimi-rejects-afcon-title-as-morocco-captain#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2026\/03\/sm_1774097213.432023.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Zambia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"head lines\",\"homepage-english\",\"sport\",\"to-homepage\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/hakimi-rejects-afcon-title-as-morocco-captain#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/hakimi-rejects-afcon-title-as-morocco-captain\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/hakimi-rejects-afcon-title-as-morocco-captain\",\"name\":\"Hakimi Rejects AFCON Title As Morocco Captain - Zambia\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/hakimi-rejects-afcon-title-as-morocco-captain#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/hakimi-rejects-afcon-title-as-morocco-captain#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2026\/03\/sm_1774097213.432023.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-21T12:42:57+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-03-21T12:47:29+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"Morocco captain Achraf Hakimi rejects the AFCON title. Morocco captain Achraf Hakimi has publicly rejected the Confeder ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/hakimi-rejects-afcon-title-as-morocco-captain#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/hakimi-rejects-afcon-title-as-morocco-captain\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/hakimi-rejects-afcon-title-as-morocco-captain#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2026\/03\/sm_1774097213.432023.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2026\/03\/sm_1774097213.432023.jpg\",\"width\":720,\"height\":405,\"caption\":\"Hakimi Rejects AFCON Title As Morocco Captain\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/hakimi-rejects-afcon-title-as-morocco-captain#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Hakimi Rejects AFCON Title As Morocco Captain\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/\",\"name\":\"Zambia\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Hakimi Rejects AFCON Title As Morocco Captain - Zambia","description":"Morocco captain Achraf Hakimi rejects the AFCON title. Morocco captain Achraf Hakimi has publicly rejected the Confeder ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/hakimi-rejects-afcon-title-as-morocco-captain","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Hakimi Rejects AFCON Title As Morocco Captain","og_description":"Morocco captain Achraf Hakimi rejects the AFCON title. Morocco captain Achraf Hakimi has publicly rejected the Confeder ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/hakimi-rejects-afcon-title-as-morocco-captain","og_site_name":"Zambia","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2026-03-21T12:42:57+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-03-21T12:47:29+00:00","og_image":[{"width":720,"height":405,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2026\/03\/sm_1774097213.432023.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/hakimi-rejects-afcon-title-as-morocco-captain#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/hakimi-rejects-afcon-title-as-morocco-captain"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"Hakimi Rejects AFCON Title As Morocco Captain","datePublished":"2026-03-21T12:42:57+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-21T12:47:29+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/hakimi-rejects-afcon-title-as-morocco-captain"},"wordCount":313,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/hakimi-rejects-afcon-title-as-morocco-captain#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2026\/03\/sm_1774097213.432023.jpg","keywords":["Zambia"],"articleSection":["all news","head lines","homepage-english","sport","to-homepage"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/hakimi-rejects-afcon-title-as-morocco-captain#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/hakimi-rejects-afcon-title-as-morocco-captain","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/hakimi-rejects-afcon-title-as-morocco-captain","name":"Hakimi Rejects AFCON Title As Morocco Captain - Zambia","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/hakimi-rejects-afcon-title-as-morocco-captain#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/hakimi-rejects-afcon-title-as-morocco-captain#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2026\/03\/sm_1774097213.432023.jpg","datePublished":"2026-03-21T12:42:57+00:00","dateModified":"2026-03-21T12:47:29+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"Morocco captain Achraf Hakimi rejects the AFCON title. Morocco captain Achraf Hakimi has publicly rejected the Confeder ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/hakimi-rejects-afcon-title-as-morocco-captain#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/hakimi-rejects-afcon-title-as-morocco-captain"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/hakimi-rejects-afcon-title-as-morocco-captain#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2026\/03\/sm_1774097213.432023.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/zambia\/sites\/35\/2026\/03\/sm_1774097213.432023.jpg","width":720,"height":405,"caption":"Hakimi Rejects AFCON Title As Morocco Captain"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/all-news\/hakimi-rejects-afcon-title-as-morocco-captain#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Hakimi Rejects AFCON Title As Morocco Captain"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/","name":"Zambia","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81702","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81702"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81702\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81700"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81702"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81702"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/zambia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81702"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}