Man City Coach Pep Guardiola Reacts As CAF Strips Senegal of AFCON 2025 Title
- Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has reacted to CAF's ruling on the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations final
- The Confederation of African Football stripped Senegal of its continental title won on January 18, 2026
- The Teranga Lions have headed to the Court of Arbitration for Sports to appeal the new decision
Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola has reacted to the Confederation of African Football's decision to strip Senegal of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations title.
The African football governing body initially sanctioned the Teranga Lions and Morocco for the incident during the AFCON final on January 18, but the Royal Moroccan Football Federation appealed the decision.
The CAF Appeal Board overruled the initial judgment and stripped Senegal of the title, awarding Morocco a 3-0 walkover victory and the title.
Source: Getty Images
CAF president Patrice Motsepe also explained that the organisational structure is independent, with each board allowed to act in its own judgment, per Super Sports.
The South African billionaire's comment was supported by the former president of Nigeria Football Federation, Amaju Pinnick, per Arise News.
Guardiola speaks on CAF's decision
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola has expressed shock over CAF’s decision to award the 2025 AFCON title to Morocco.
In a viral post on X, the former Barcelona coach claimed that those responsible for the decision would not be able to show their faces in public.
The ex-Bayern Munich manager added that while the verdict has been delivered, many observers remain unaware of the reasons behind the reversal. Guardiola said:
“It's a surprise. I don’t know the reason… but it's a decision made behind-the-scenes”.
“What happens everywhere is what we see, it's not happened, it always happens behind the scenes and you don't see their faces.”
Legit.ng compiled the reactions of football fans following Pep Guardiola's opinion. Read them below:
@minospeed007 said:
"Everyone is condemning the actions of African football to by CAF to satisfy selfish interests, but CAF keep grandstanding on its shameful decisions to strip Senegal of their hard earned trophy. This tells a story about the deep-rooted corruption in the organisation.
"Patrice Motsepe must resign for his involvement in making African football the bu*t of the joke."
Source: Getty Images
@jerrymejh wrote:
"Pep’s right to point out the lack of transparency. Major decisions affecting players and clubs, especially regarding tournaments like AFCON, often feel like they’re made in a vacuum without consulting the people actually on the pitch. We need more faces and fewer closed doors in football governance."
@AgberoFcBAT added:
"Pep finally saying what everyone in African football has been whispering for the last 48 hours. When a result is overturned 58 days after the final whistle, it’s no longer about football it's about the 'behind-the-scenes' politics Pep is talking about. Transparency is the only thing that can save the game’s integrity now
Morocco reacts to CAF's ruling
Legit.ng previously reported that the Moroccan FA reacted to the latest CAF ruling, which awarded the Atlas Lions the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations title.
Morocco acknowledged the judgment, but refused to comment on the broader implications until it had sat with its governing body before announcing a decision.
Source: Legit.ng
