AFCON 2025: Why CAF Did Not Hand Senegal Original Trophy After Beating Morocco
- Senegal defeated Morocco in the final at Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium to win the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations
- Pape Gueye scored the winning goal in the fourth minute of extra time to hand the Teranga Lions their second star
- CAF did not hand the original AFCON trophy to Senegal due to previous experiences with handling the trophy
Senegal is the reigning African champions after beating Morocco in the final of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations at Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium on January 16, 2026.
Pape Gueye scored the decisive goal in the 94th-minute after a brilliant work from Sadio Mane to turn defence into attack in the blink of an eye.
Source: Getty Images
The match was marred by controversies in the additional minutes of the 90 minutes after referee Jean-Jacques Ndala awarded a penalty to the hosts
Ndala had previously disallowed Senegal’s goal five minutes before the penalty, forcing Pape Thiaw to order his players off the pitch in protest against the decision.
Mane intervened, spoke to Claude Le Roy and El Hadji Diouf before appealing to his teammates to return to the pitch and complete the match. Brahim Diaz missed the resulting penalty, which eventually cost Morocco.
The aftermath of the final continues with CAF opening an official investigation and federations filing multiple petitions to express their grievances.
Why Senegal didn't get original trophy
Champions Senegal will hold on to the AFCON trophy until the next edition in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda in 2027, but not the original trophy.
CAF stopped awarding the original trophy to winners a long time ago, giving it out only for celebrations before it is returned to the headquarters in Egypt.
The Black Stars of Ghana, which dominated African football in the 1960s and 1970s, shaped CAF’s decision not to give out replica trophies to winners.
According to Yen, the current trophy is the third CAF has presented to winners since the inception of AFCON in 1957. The Abdelaziz Abdallah Salem trophy from 1957 to 1979, the African Unity trophy from 1980 to 2000, and the current trophy from 2001.
Ghana won the Salem trophy three times in 1963, 1965 and 1978; thus, CAF awarded the original trophy to them permanently, but it has since disappeared from GFA headquarters.
The African Unity trophy was introduced in 1980, the first of which the Green Eagles of Nigeria won; Ghana won it again in 1982, their last title to date. Cameroon won the final piece and also lost it.
Source: Getty Images
According to BBC, the original AFCON trophy awarded to Egypt after their third consecutive win in 2010 went missing in the FA headquarters in Cairo in 2013.
These incidents have shaped CAF’s decision to award only replica trophies to winners, while the original remains at the organisation’s headquarters.
Why Mane won AFCON 2025 MVP
Legit.ng reported that CAF explained why Sadio Mane was named AFCON 2025 Player of the Tournament ahead of Nigeria’s Ademola Lookman.
The Teranga Lions’ captain was rewarded for his leadership in restoring calmness to the final match when his teammates walked out in protest.
Source: Legit.ng
