Mr Saine, who has served as media officer of CAF and covered the Africa Cup of Nations tournament16 times, said “this is the first time the AFCON cup has been withdrawn from the winning team” declared champions two months ago.
"This is the first time in recent years this has happened,” Pap Saine said in an interview with this medium at the weekend. “The Appeal Jury ruled last Tuesday that the Africa Nations Cup is forfeited by Senegal and should be given to Morocco with a score of 3-0 victory."
After the final match, Mr Saine explained, both the referee and the match commissioner validated the victory of Senegal through their reports.
All the players of Senegal except Sadio Mane pulled out of the field for 15 minutes before returning to complete the match, without a punitive action by the referee at that point in time.
"The decision of a referee in a match is final. Nobody else can reverse the decision," the veteran journalist said.
Mr Saine further quoted Article 5 of CAF regulations, which states: "Article 5 of the Laws of the Game (IFAB), as applied by CAF, stipulates that the referee is the sole judge on the field and that their decisions on the events of the game are final and without appeal. These decisions cannot be reviewed, guaranteeing that the result is decided on the field."
This is the first time in the history of CAF, since its inception in 1957, that a team was pronounced winner and after two months their winning and cup was withdrawn from them, he said. “This is a shame for African football, and it will tremendously affect the game in the future.”
Mr Saine recalled a similar incident that happened on 14 March 1976 in the finals of the Nations League (now Africa Nations Cup) in Ethiopia, between Morocco and Guinea Conakry which ended one-all draw.
“Guinea striker Cherif Souleymane scored in the 34th minute of the match, and the Moroccans protested, left the field for about 10 minutes and came back to continue the match,” he recounted. “In the 86th minute, Ahmed Baba Makrouh equalised for Morocco. After the full time of play Morocco were crowned champions of the Nations League, because they needed only a draw to be the champions of the tournament then called the Nations League Championship. The referee at the time was a Zambian called Nyirenda Chayu.”
Five decades on, a similar incident has occurred between Senegal and Morocco, in which Senegal emerged the winner and was crowned champions, only to be overturned two months later.
Following CAF’s decision to overturn the win of Senegal, many soccer fans have voiced their concerns through social media, expressing dismay over the decision.
“Now Senegal are about to appeal at the Sports Tribunal in Switzerland,” Mr Saine hinted, saying: “Senegal has sought the services of six eminent lawyers including a Swiss, Serge Vittoz, who is a specialist in sports law.
“Vittoz is the lawyer who defended Senegal against South Africa in their dispute from the 2017 preliminary rounds of the World Cup, which Senegal won at the Sports Tribunal in Switzerland, and qualified for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.”
The former CAF media officer also commented on the decision by CAF to take the Nations Cup tournament from biennial to a quadrennial contest.
African football fans are querying the changes of the calendar of the Africa Cup of Nations, which has been moved from every 2 years to four years effective 2028. “This will kill the spirit of the competition,” Mr Saine said, cautioning CAF over other “bad measures or decisions” it has taken, such as the abolition of CHAN competitions introduced in 2009 to promote local players and discover their talents.
“CAF should not be a one-man show,” he advises, saying all the problems affecting football today should be addressed.
