They are no longer our brothers": how the AFCON final broke the Morocco-Senegal friendship

The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has ruled, granting Morocco a 3-0 walkover victory following the temporary withdrawal of the Senegalese players during the final. While the streets of Morocco have exulted, Senegal is preparing a response. The Senegalese Football Federation has mandated its lawyers to take the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), while the government is calling for an international investigation into suspected corruption within the continental body.

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These accusations of favoritism target Morocco’s status, future co-host of the 2030 World Cup and a major player in continental football. CAF President Patrice Motsepe had to intervene publicly to defend himself, stressing that no African country would ever be treated in a "more preferential or more advantageous" manner than another.

However, the discord, analyzed by AP, goes far beyond the limits of the field and cracks a deep bilateral partnership. The Moroccan-Senegalese alliance has historically been based on financial, cultural, and religious flows through the Sufi Tijaniyyah brotherhood. The recent sentencing of eighteen Senegalese supporters in Morocco to prison terms for hooliganism has exacerbated the crisis, prompting the Moroccan embassy in Dakar to urge its nationals to exercise the utmost restraint.

In Dakar, popular pride has been touched. The president of the main Senegalese supporters’ group, Seydina Issa Laye Diop, warns that the preservation of friendship requires maintenance and is surprised by the continued detention of his compatriots without solid argument. A resentment shared by Mariama Ndeye, a student, who bitterly regrets that the notion of brotherhood suddenly fades away as soon as "things don’t go their way".

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In Morocco, human disillusionment is also felt. Many supporters regret that the rest of the continent openly supported Senegal during the final. Ismail Fnani, a Casablanca merchant, admits to having lost his usual compassion towards sub-Saharan migrants in favor of strict reciprocity. For his part, Mohamed el-Arabi, who refuses to celebrate this administrative consecration, is concerned about a nascent animosity, lamenting that the Senegalese are unfortunately no longer perceived "as brothers" by a part of the population.