Confederation of African Football (CAF) President Patrice Motsepe speaks during a press conference at the Mohammed VI Football Complex in Sale on April 9, 2026, nearly a month after Senegal was stripped of its Africa Cup of Nations title in favour of host nation Morocco. Motsepe had announced at the end of March that he would visit Senegal and Morocco to stress the importance of “working together to develop African football”, after his organisation faced mounting criticism. Photo: AFP
"If anybody wants to initiate legal action alleging that there is corruption in CAF I don't only welcome that, I encourage them," said Patrice Motsepe, speaking in Morocco.
"There's nothing to hide. We respect enormously the judicial and legal sovereignty of every single one of our 54 nations on the African continent.
"I'm confident that whatever the decision of CAS will say, we will respect it and we will implement it," he added, referring to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Motsepe's visit comes at a particularly tense time for CAF following its surprise decision to overturn Senegal's 1-0 win over hosts Morocco in the Cup of Nations final on January 18.
CAF cited regulations about leaving the field as it recorded a 3-0 victory in Morocco's favour on March 17.
During the match Senegalese players, head coach Pape Thiaw and his staff walked off the pitch in Rabat after Morocco were awarded an added-time penalty, which forward Brahim Diaz ultimately missed.
The Senegalese Football Federation has appealed CAF's decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
The decision has sparked a strong response by Senegal, whose government has called for an international investigation into suspected corruption within the institution.
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