Researched by Alfa Shaban
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) has stripped Senegal of the 2025 African Cup of Nations (AFCON) title and handed it to Morocco, in a statement of March 17, 2026, after an Appeal Panel upheld Morocco’s petition.
Days later, multiple claims about the controversial decision went viral on social media platforms, including X, Facebook and TikTok. FactSpace West Africa’s monitoring found that some local and international news portals carried some of the viral claims.
One claim was that Senegal had sent the trophy to a military base to be guarded amid calls for its return to CAF.
Another was that Guinea had petitioned CAF to review the 1976 final they lost to Morocco because the Moroccans had also deserted the game at one point.
The third viral claim was that the Moroccan captain and PSG star, Achraf Hakimi, said he was not interested in being called a champion because matches are won on the pitch, where Morocco lost.
1. Did Senegal send the trophy to a military base following the CAF ruling?
2. Did Guinea petition CAF over the 1976 final loss to Morocco?
3. Did Achraf Hakimi reject the CAF ruling crowning Morocco as champions?
FactSpace West Africa fact-checked each of the claims:
Claim 1: Senegal sends a trophy to a military camp
An X user, Topskills Sports UK, posted a video showing the Senegal national team manager, Pape Thiaw, holding the AFCON trophy while surrounded by scores of military personnel. The caption of the post that had been viewed 7.2 million times read: “BREAKING: Senegal Coach took the AFCON to their military base today. It’s now positioned in the centre of their military camp. Protecting what rightfully belongs to them…”
Other accounts shared the same video with similar captions, here, here and here. Several media platforms, such as GhanaWeb, The Guardian Nigeria and Gulf News, also reported the alleged incident.
Fact-Check
FactSpace West Africa searched on major Senegalese news portals but found no report of Pape Thiaw sending the trophy to a military base. Our checks instead led us to the same video, which had been previously published in February 2026.
On February 8, 2026, an X user posted the recirculating video with a caption, “The African Cup trophy is in Saint-Louis with the soldiers.” Our checks also confirmed that SeneWeb, a major news portal, posted the video on its Facebook page on the same date.
Verdict
The claim that Senegal sent the trophy to the military for safeguarding is False.
Claim 2: Did Guinea petition CAF over the 1976 final, citing AFCON 2025 Appeal ruling?
Even before the CAF ruling on Senegal and Morocco would die down, another viral claim surfaced on social media platforms, that the Guinean Football Federation (Feguifoot) had petitioned CAF to apply the 2025 decision to strip Senegal of the AFCON title to a similar incident in 1976 involving Guinea and Morocco in an AFCON final that took place in Ethiopia.
Accounts spreading the Guinea 1976 final petition include Nigeria Stories on X, Ghanaian influencer Kaly Jay and the Africa Facts Zone page on X. News portals that carried this supposed petition included Goal.com, Modern Ghana, Vanguard News and Africa Global News.
Fact-check
FactSpace West Africa contacted the Guinean Football Federation via email and Facebook Messenger on March 20, but neither correspondence received a formal response. On March 22, the federation issued a statement dismissing the said petition.
“The Guinean Football Federation (FGF) wishes to inform national and international public opinion that it has not initiated any proceedings, either with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) or with the Confederation of African Football (CAF), in connection with the 1976 Africa Cup of Nations.
“In recent days, information shared on various platforms, particularly social media, has wrongly suggested a supposed move by Guinea to contest the result of the match between the Syli National and Morocco during that competition. The Guinean Football Federation wishes to specify, in a spirit of responsibility and peace, that this information is inaccurate and has no official basis,” the statement read in part.
Verdict
The claim that Guinea was protesting the 1976 AFCON loss to Morocco is False.
Claim 3: Has Hakimi personally rejected Morocco’s coronation as champions?
Another claim that has been trending over the CAF ruling is a viral quote attributed to Moroccan skipper Achraf Hakimi, who is alleged to have rejected the CAF ruling based on his mother’s advice, arguing that matches should not be won beyond the pitch.
Fact-check
FactSpace West Africa assessed all known social media handles of Hakimi (X, Facebook, Instagram) to find the said comments, but to no avail. Additionally, Advanced Google Search on any recent interviews he had granted on the matter returned zero results.
We traced the claim to an X handle to first make the post in French. Subsequently, other accounts across platforms amplified it, here, here and here. As with the two earlier claims, several media houses also run stories using the claim, among them are ZBC News (Zimbabwe), Today’s News (South Africa) and Business Day (Nigeria).
FactSpace West Africa’s Instagram message to Hakimi over the viral report has not been responded to. Several Moroccan journalists, however, disclaimed the reports as Fake. One of them, Izem Anass, wrote on X: “The information circulating on social networks, according to which Hakimi will refuse the Africa Cup of Nations trophy, is totally false.”
Verdict
The claim that Hakimi had rejected the AFCON trophy is False.
