The highly controversial move by the Confederation of African Football to strip Senegal of the Afcon title and award it to Morocco has sparked outrage worldwide.
At the final whistle after a roller-coaster Africa Cup of Nations final in mid-January, Senegal had beaten Morocco 1-0 in Rabat, with Pape Gueye scoring in extra time after Eduardo Mendy's crucial penalty save from Brahim Diaz. However, that match was marred in chaos.
Senegal players and their coach had walked off the pitch in protest for around 15 minutes after a contentious penalty decision in stoppage time, a decision that has now proved rather costly in hindsight.
While Sadio Mane remained on the field and ultimately convinced his teammates to return and complete the match, one which they would later win 1-0 in extra-time, the CAF appeals board has now, two months later, invoked Article 82, ruling that the Senegal team's behaviour constitutes forfeiture.
As a result, Senegal's win has been overturned to a 3-0 forfeit instead and Morocco have been awarded the title. The case is expected to escalate to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, with Senegal demanding an "independent international investigation" into corruption at the CAF.
Senegal's case, while rare, isn't an unheard of event in football. Here's a look at the high-profile instances where titles were stripped due to administrative or ethical violations.
Marseille (1992-93)
The French club were stripped of their Ligue 1 title after a match-fixing scandal involving club president Bernard Tapie who was found guilty of offering 250,000 franc to bribe Valenciennes players to go easy on Marseille. The scandal was brought to light when one of the players reported the bribe incident.
As a result, Marseille were relegated from Ligue 1 and stripped of their title, though they retained the Champions League crown that they won in that same season.
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Juventus (2004-05, 2005-06)
The Calciopoli scandal saw the Italian giants stripped of two Serie A titles and relegated with a points penalty, which meant they started the next season at the bottom of Serie B. Juventus officials were found guilty of influencing referee appointments. The 2004-05 Series A title was left unassigned to any team, while the 2005-06 title was awarded to Inter Milan, which finished third.
Shanghai Shenhua (2003)
In a judgement that was issued a decade after they had won the Chinese Super League, Shanghai Shenhua, which had players like Didier Drogba, Nicolas Anelka and Carlos Tevez on their roster at one point, were stripped of their title following revelations of referee bribery. The season was ultimately declared void.
India's Own Administrative Chaos
Indian football witnessed a similar confounding saga just last year with Churchill Brothers in the 2024-25 I-League season.
The Goan side were initially crowned champions and even handed the trophy, only for the decision to be stayed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. A prolonged legal battle followed, centred on an ineligible player dispute.
Inter Kashi, which finished the season one point behind the Goan side, claimed that in an earlier game against Namdhari FC, which they lost, their opponents fielded a player who should've been suspended due to an accumulation of yellow cards. Kashi argued that they should be awarded a 3-0 forfeit win, something that CAS agreed with in July 2025.
The CAS ruling in favour of Inter Kashi, overturned the standings and Churchill Brothers' "third title" was erased from official records, a decision that also cost them promotion to the ISL 2026 season.
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