A document bearing the logo of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has been doing the rounds on social media, claiming a ruling had stripped Morocco of the Africa Cup of Nations title and handed it to Senegal. The claim set off a furious debate over how the dispute between the two sides will end.
Senegalese website "SeneNews" says the document is fake. The court has announced no official ruling in the case.
Dressed up as an official statement from the Swiss city of Lausanne, the document claims the court decided, "after an in-depth study of the file", to award the Africa Cup of Nations title to Senegal on the grounds that they had met "all the sporting, organisational and ethical conditions" qualifying them to be crowned.
It goes further, claiming to recognise the Senegalese Football Federation as the holder of the African champions title and offering congratulations to the team, its coaching staff and the Senegalese people. Someone later stamped the phrase "fake news" onto the circulated copy, flagging it as bogus.
Errors that expose the fake document on Senegal's coronation
Several giveaways expose it. Most glaring is the reference to the "2026 Africa Cup of Nations", when the disputed final belongs to the 2025 edition and was played in the Moroccan capital Rabat on 18 January 2026.
Nowhere does the document mention the Confederation of African Football (CAF), whose decision sits at the heart of the challenge before the Court of Arbitration for Sport. It carries no case number either, and no legal grounds explaining the basis of the alleged ruling.
Real sports arbitration rulings work differently. They address the appeal submitted and its legal grounds rather than simply naming a winner and dishing out congratulations.
Then there's the tone. Congratulating one party to a dispute and its people, or talking about meeting "ethical" conditions, bears no resemblance to the wording a sports judicial body actually uses.
A new fake document in a series of rumours
Fake documents attributed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport over the Senegal-Morocco dispute are nothing new. Social media has produced several in recent months, all claiming the case had been settled in Senegal's favour, with the dates and wording shifting each time. Some even borrowed elements of the court's visual identity to pass themselves off as official.
One earlier effort carried the wrong case number. The Senegalese Football Federation's appeal is registered with the court as CAS 2026/A/12295.
Last July, the Court of Arbitration for Sport put out a statement officially denying the authenticity of another fake document circulating online, confirming no decision had been issued in the case at that stage.
Dated 14 October, the latest document joins a run of misleading posts painting the dispute as settled while the legal proceedings grind on.
When will the Court of Arbitration for Sport's ruling be issued?
Lausanne hosted the hearing on 8 October, after which the case was reserved for deliberation ahead of the final decision.
No date for the ruling has been officially announced. Previous reports suggest it could land in the coming days, possibly between 18 and 22 October, though that remains an estimate rather than a guarantee.
Once the decision arrives, the Court of Arbitration for Sport is expected to announce it via its official website and in a dedicated statement, with the parties concerned then relaying it: the Confederation of African Football, the Royal Moroccan Football Federation and the Senegalese Football Federation.
Until that happens, treat any announcement handing the Africa Cup of Nations title to Senegal or Morocco with caution. Nothing settles this dispute but an official decision from the court.