Senegal had won AFCON.placeholder image
Senegal had won AFCON. | AFP via Getty Images
El Hadji Malick Diouf had lifted the Africa Cup of Nations trophy with Senegal teammates earlier this year.
West Ham defender El Hadji Malick Diouf has been left bemused by the decision to award the Africa Cup of Nations 2025 title to Morocco.
Diouf had lifted the trophy with Senegal in January, having beaten Morocco 1-0 in the controversial final. In that match, the Senegalese players left the pitch in protest over a penalty being awarded to their opponents in stoppage time.
The match eventually resumed after a 17 minute stoppage and Brahim Diaz missed the penalty before Pape Gueye scored a winner for Senegal in extra time.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) confirmed on Tuesday that the result had been overturned with Senegal ‘declared to have forfeited the final match’. As a result, the scoreline will go down in the history books as a 3-0 win to Morocco.
The Senegalese Football Federation are set to launch an appeal against the verdict and Diouf has hit out at the news. Taking to social media, the 21-year-old wrote: “This trophy is won on the pitch, not by email.”
Diouf made five appearances at the Africa Cup of Nations. The player missed out of the first Group D game against Botswana but then made the bench against DR Congo. He then featured in every fixture up until the final, playing 105 minutes on that night.
El Hadji Malick Diouf ‘proud’ to have won AFCON with Senegal
West Ham boss Nuno Espirito Santo has been an outspoken advocate for African football, despite having to operate without his full-back in those weeks. He said: “African football is really special. If you have the chance to see the tournament, you’re going to see individual actions, there’s so much unpredictability. There are some teams that are still a little bit anarchic and it’s fun to watch.”
Speaking about his AFCON success to the club in January, Diouf said: “I’m just happy to come back with the trophy and the medal, and I'm really happy to be a champion. It’s a proud moment for me, because I’m an AFCON winner. It was the best moment of my life. It's the best moment because I was waiting for that.
“I don't have the words to describe it, but it's something I’ve been waiting for, and now it's happened. I always believed we could win it, even before the tournament started.
“We were the best team, and everyone thought we were going to win easily, but it’s not as simple as that. We knew we had to be compact, to be a good group, and ready to fight. This was the mentality, and I think we stayed together throughout the full tournament, and that’s why we were successful.”
In other news, Tottenham lead West Ham in race to sign bargain £30m Serie A bagsman.
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