CAF boss defends move to strip Senegal of AFCON title

The president of African soccers governing body has defended its integrity and impartiality after Senegals government called for an international investigation into suspected corruption at the organization after it stripped the country of its Africa Cup of Nations titlePatrice Motsepe the president of the Confederation of African Football sought Wednesday to explain the decision made by its appeals board on Tuesday that ruled Senegal had forfeited the final in January by walking off the field turning its 10 win in extra time into a 30 default win for host nation MoroccoThe CAF disciplinary board took one decision The CAF appeals board took a totally different position And Im told that Senegal is going to appeal which is very important Motsepe said in a video published on the CAF website We will adhere and respect the decision thats taken at the highest levelMotsepe said that CAFs disciplinary and appeals board members are chosen from names proposed by each of its 54 member associations If you look at the composition of those bodies they reflect some of the most respected lawyers and judges on the continent he said These are people who have integrity and have a track record the independence is reflected by the decisions that were taken by the two bodiesContrasting decisionsIn January CAFs disciplinary board imposed fines of more than 1 million against the Senegalese and Moroccan federations together It issued suspensions against the Senegal coach and several players But it did not interfere with the outcome of the final CAFs appeals board on Tuesday ruled that Senegal forfeited the Jan 18 final by leaving the field of play without the referees authorization and that Morocco should consequently be awarded a 30 winMost of the Senegal team left for almost 10 minutes while Senegal fans battled stewards behind one of the goals in protest against a controversial penalty call for Morocco after Senegal had a goal ruled out The players returned Morocco missed the penalty and Senegal won the match by scoring in extra timeCAFs legacyWhat happened in that final match is it undermines the good work that CAF has done over many many years to ensure that theres integrity that there is respect that theres ethics that theres governance as well as credibility in the results of our football matches said Motsepe who said the incidents in the final had exposed the work CAF was doing to address suspicion and distrustIts a legacy issue When I became president one of the major concerns was the impartiality the independence and the respect of referees and match commissioners and a lot of good good work has been done he said That there continues to be suspicions because its a legacy issue its something that has been there for many many years and we consistently deal with that because thats critically importantSenegal appealsThe Senegalese soccer federation said it will appeal Tuesdays decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne Switzerland and the Senegalese government slammed what it called a manifestly erroneous interpretation of the regulations leading to a grossly illegal and deeply unjust decisionMotsepe defended CAF against perceptions of favoritism toward Morocco which is a 2030 World Cup cohost and has invested heavily to become a soccer superpowerNot a single country in Africa will be treated in a manner that is more preferential or more advantageous or more favorable than any other country on the African continent Morsepe said We take what has happened at the final match in Morocco acirciquestbrvbar we take it very very seriouslyHe said CAF had already taken steps to address deficiencies We have very high standards that we set for ourselves It is important for us that ordinary football supporters and spectators in every one of the 54 countries in Africa in their judgment not in CAFs judgment not in my judgment regard the decisions of our judicial bodies as fair Motsepe saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever