A Senegalese website has launched a scathing attack on Walid Regragui, the former head coach of the Morocco national team, accusing him of trying to influence public opinion before the fate of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations final is decided in the case before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
The website SeneNews published a report headlined: "2025 Africa Cup of Nations final: Walid Regragui's suspicious plans against Senegal before the Court of Arbitration for Sport's verdict". The piece slammed the Moroccan coach's recent flurry of media appearances, arguing that Regragui is waging "another battle against Senegal" through the airwaves.
Regragui recently turned up on a podcast run by a Moroccan digital outlet, then spoke on the "Canal Football Club" programme, exploiting his current work as an analyst for "Canal+". The Senegalese website reckons those statements are designed to cement one narrative: that Morocco were the side more deserving of the continental crown.
By harping on the events of the final, the Senegalese coach Pape Thiaw and the conduct of the Senegalese team, Regragui is helping to "shape a certain image of the match before the final decision from the Court of Arbitration for Sport is issued", the report added.
Regragui accused of "crafting a narrative"
Those repeated appearances, the website argues, amount to a strategy to sway public opinion. The Moroccan coach, it says, is chasing what it called a "victory in public opinion" now that the match has been settled on the pitch.
SeneNews also took aim at the wide media space Regragui enjoys compared to Pape Thiaw, noting that his new role with "Canal+" hands him a huge platform to push the Moroccan point of view on the final.
The report then recalled Regragui's comments before the match, when he urged Moroccan fans to jeer the Senegal national team and get behind their own. That call, it argues, cranked up the tension around the final.
What happened in the final?
Senegal beat Morocco 1-0 after extra time at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat on 18 January 2026, Pape Gueye striking early in the additional period.
Controversy erupted late on. The referee awarded Morocco a penalty in the closing minutes of normal time after a VAR check, but Edouard Mendy saved Brahim Diaz's spot-kick, and the match rolled into extra time.
An unprecedented decision
The file took an unexpected turn in March 2026. The Appeals Committee of the Confederation of African Football scrapped the Disciplinary Committee's ruling and declared Senegal losers of the final by withdrawal, awarding Morocco a 3-0 result under Article 84 of the Africa Cup of Nations regulations.
You can discuss topics and news in greater depth in the "Kooora" forums
The reversal followed an appeal from the Royal Moroccan Football Federation against the Disciplinary Committee's January ruling. That earlier ruling had penalised the Senegalese Federation along with several players and officials. It had also banned Pape Thiaw, Senegal's coach, for five official matches and fined him 100,000 dollars over conduct it deemed contrary to sportsmanship and integrity and damaging to the image of football.
Senegal turns to CAS
Senegal's Federation rejected the decision and lodged an official appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport on 25 March 2026 against both CAF and the Royal Moroccan Football Federation. They want the CAF decision overturned and Senegal recognised as winners of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.
On 24 July 2026, the Court of Arbitration for Sport set 8 October 2026 as the date for the hearing at its headquarters in the Swiss city of Lausanne.
So the case remains unresolved, despite the CAF Appeals Committee handing Morocco the title administratively.
African football is still waiting on the final word from CAS. The Senegalese website casts Regragui's media moves as an attempt to sway public opinion, while the Moroccan side insists the CAF ruling has restored its standing in the case.
The last word, in the end, belongs to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which will decide the fate of one of the most controversial Africa Cup of Nations finals in recent years.