Former CAF Disciplinary Board president Raymond Hack has sparked controversy by claiming that Morocco staged a similar walkout during the 1976 AFCON final, arguing it serves as a historical precedent against the recent stripping of Senegal’s 2025 title.
Raymond Hack, the former president of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) Disciplinary Board, has introduced a controversial historical dimension to the ongoing debate regarding the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) title. Speaking in a chat with Robert Marawa on Wednesday, Hack claimed that the Morocco national team staged its own walkout during the final of the 1976 AFCON—the only continental trophy the North African side has won on the pitch. His comments come as a direct reaction to the CAF Appeals Board’s recent verdict to strip Senegal of the 2025 title and award it to Morocco, after Senegalese players left the pitch to protest a penalty decision. The ruling cited a breach of Articles 82 and 84 of the AFCON regulations, but Hack argues that historical consistency is lacking in the application of these rules.
Addressing the precedent, Hack noted that the 1976 tournament utilized a unique round-robin final format where the top four teams competed for points rather than a single knockout match. During the decisive final game against Guinea, Hack alleges that Morocco utilized similar protest tactics that are now being used to disqualify Senegal. “The format of the 1976 AFCON differed from the current arrangement,” Hack explained, noting that only eight teams participated, yet the fundamental principle of staying on the pitch remained a regulation even then. By highlighting this 50-year-old incident, the former legal chief suggests that the Disciplinary Committee’s initial decision to dismiss Morocco’s 2025 plea may have been more in line with historical “fair play” than the Appeals Board’s final reversal.
The verdict continues to generate significant friction across the global football community as Senegal prepares to challenge the decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The Appeals Board had previously overturned an initial Disciplinary Committee ruling, which had originally dismissed Morocco’s request to have the final result changed from a 1-0 Senegal victory to a 3-0 forfeit. With Hack’s claims now part of the public discourse, legal experts suggest that the “historical precedent” of the 1976 final may be cited in future appeals. For now, the 2025 trophy remains in a state of administrative limbo, as fans and officials wait to see if CAF will address the alleged inconsistency between its past leniency and its current rigid enforcement.
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