Achraf Hakimi Voices Support for Morocco's Title
Achraf Hakimi, the captain of the Moroccan national football team, has expressed his strong belief that Morocco rightfully deserves to be crowned the champion of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON). This statement comes amidst controversy surrounding the decision to award the title to Morocco over Senegal based on administrative actions by the Confederation of African Football (CAF). Following Paris Saint-Germain's victory against Liverpool in the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals, Hakimi emphasized, "We hope that this decision will be upheld because we deserve the title, and no team should leave the field in such a manner," referring to the dramatic events that unfolded during the final match.
Controversial Moments and Future Prospects
In an interview with the French newspaper Le Parisien, Hakimi expressed confidence that the Court of Arbitration for Sport will ultimately resolve the matter in favor of African football. He acknowledged that certain actions during the final were inappropriate, specifically mentioning the incident involving a towel that sparked widespread debate, where several individuals, including reserve players and coaching staff, intervened to retrieve a towel for the Senegalese goalkeeper. "I am not proud of the image we presented at that moment; the atmosphere was extremely tense," he admitted, while simultaneously asserting that his team performed admirably throughout the tournament and showed respect to all their opponents.
On March 17, CAF announced that its appeals committee deemed the Senegalese team to have withdrawn from the championship final, resulting in a 3-0 victory awarded to Morocco. Senegal's players had initially exited the pitch in protest over a penalty awarded to Morocco in the dying minutes of regulation time after a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) review, but they returned to finish the match. CAF's statement clarified that the decision was made under Article 84 of the AFCON regulations, following the acceptance of an appeal filed by the Moroccan Football Federation regarding the application of Articles 82 and 84, thereby overturning a previous ruling by the disciplinary committee that had rejected Morocco's request to annul the match result.
As reported by aljazeera.net.
