George Weah: My opinion on CAF’s decision to withdraw the 2025 AFCON championship from Senegal and award it to Morocco – THISAGE

In football, the Laws of the Game are clear: the on-field referee is the final authority on decisions made during the match. Once play can continue and the match is over, the result obtained on the field must remain valid.
According to the applicable Confederation of African Football (CAF) rules, referees have full authority during the match.

The CAF regulations are in line with the FIFA Laws of the Game, which provide that:
“The referee has full authority to enforce the Laws of the Game in relation to the match for which he has been appointed, and his decisions on matters relating to the game are final.”

— Law 5, Laws of the Game (applied by all Confederations including CAF competitions).
In the case in point of the AFCON final between Senegal and Morocco, the referee allowed the match to continue after Senegal’s elimination, and the match ended, including extra time, with a result obtained on the field of play.

Furthermore, after the match, the referee’s report noted a stoppage during the match, not a forfeiture, and recommended appropriate sanctions for infringements during the match.
For this reason, the subsequent decision of the CAF committee, taken after the match has already concluded, should not override the authority exercised by the referee during the match in accordance with the Laws of the Game – Law 5.

Football must be decided on the pitch, not redefined after the final whistle.
There is therefore no sporting justification for calling off a match that has been completed in accordance with the referee’s authority and the Laws of the Game, otherwise the beautiful game will take a slippery slope where committee room officials and not match officials will make post-match decisions to override on-field referees’ decisions such as penalties, offsides and red cards.

Where will it end?
This decision has further scarred and tarnished African football, undermining confidence in the fairness, coherence and integrity of football on the continent.
I invite the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and other competent authorities to move decisively so that this parody does not stand.

I also want to use this opportunity to clarify that widely circulated social media posts stating that I support the CAF disciplinary committee’s decision against Senegal are patently false.
All those who circulate my image and attribute it to such fallacious claims are advised to refrain.

George Manneh Weah, Sr.
Ballon d’Or winner (1995)
Three-time African Footballer of the Year (1989, 1994, 1995)

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