Senegal's fight to reclaim the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations title will be heard behind closed doors in Lausanne on 8 October, the Court of Arbitration for Sport has confirmed.

The CAS — sport's highest appeal body, based in Switzerland — will consider Senegal's challenge against the Confederation of African Football's decision to strip them of the trophy. Senegal lodged their appeal on 25 March, eight days after CAF ruled that the national team had forfeited the final and overturned the result (BBC Sport).

The backstory is extraordinary. Senegal originally beat Morocco 1-0 in the final. Then, on 17 March 2026, CAF declared that Senegal had forfeited the match and awarded Morocco a 3-0 victory by default — handing the title across the border. The specific grounds for the forfeiture have not been made public in the CAS proceedings (CAS Media Release).

For Senegal, the stakes could hardly be higher. An entire continental title — the crowning achievement for any African footballing nation — hangs on the outcome of a legal process rather than ninety minutes on the pitch.

The hearing will follow a standard, unhurried timeline. CAF and the Royal Moroccan Football Federation, Morocco's governing body, declined to agree to an expedited procedure, so the case proceeds at the usual pace. Neither body requested that the hearing be made public, meaning it will take place behind closed doors at CAS headquarters in Lausanne (BBC Sport).

A verdict will not arrive on the day itself. CAS has said it cannot give a date for the final decision, only that it will come sometime after the hearing. For both nations, the wait continues.

What makes this feel so jarring is the mismatch between how football is supposed to be decided and how this title will be settled. Afcon finals are earned through tournament runs, tactical battles, and moments of individual brilliance. This one will be decided by lawyers, written submissions, and a panel of arbitrators in a Swiss hearing room. Fans who celebrated in Dakar and fans who celebrated in Rabat are all left in the same uncomfortable position: watching from the outside, waiting for a verdict nobody can predict.

The 8 October date gives both sides the summer to prepare their cases. After that, football's most unusual trophy dispute moves one step closer to a final answer.