Hicham Aït Menna's Strong Stance on CAF's Ruling
In a recent interview with RMC Sport’s program “Rothen s’enflamme,” Hicham Aït Menna, the president of Wydad de Casablanca, passionately defended the decision made by the CAF Appeals Jury to award the African Cup of Nations (CAN) title to Morocco by default. This decision has sparked considerable debate, but Aït Menna emphasized the necessity of adhering to the rules of football. He pointed out that Morocco merely requested the enforcement of articles 82 and 84, which he argued were clearly violated by Senegal’s national team, known as the Lions of Teranga.
Aït Menna questioned the validity of Senegal’s decision to leave the field for 20 minutes, expressing his disbelief at the situation. In response to comments made by program host Jérôme Rothen, who suggested that Morocco should have called for the match to be concluded at the moment Senegal withdrew, Aït Menna firmly rejected this notion. He reiterated that the Moroccan team had shown respect for the sport by allowing Senegal to return to the field, all while reserving the right to contest the referee's judgment later.
Notably, Aït Menna highlighted that Morocco’s intention to involve legal authorities came at the point when the trophy was awarded, emphasizing, “We respected football, we respected the referee even when we disagreed.” He firmly stated that the integrity of football must be preserved by strictly applying the regulations in place. “If the regulations are flawed, then we should work towards amending them,” he added, advocating for a commitment to fairness and respect within the sport.
It is worth mentioning that the CAF Appeals Jury officially declared Morocco the winner of the CAN 2025 on Tuesday night, awarding them a 3-0 victory in accordance with existing regulations.
As reported by lopinion.ma.
