Post-settlement scenarios in the Morocco and Senegal case: can the CAS ruling be appealed?
6% keeps alive the hopes of the party harmed by the decision
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) is set to deliver its final ruling in the coming days on the crisis surrounding the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations final between Morocco and Senegal. But will that ruling be final and beyond appeal, or can either party turn to another court?
Around nine months have passed since that controversial final, which ended with Morocco crowned champions administratively at Senegal's expense after CAF accepted the Moroccan Federation's appeal. Yesterday, Thursday, the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland, examined the Senegalese Federation's appeal against that decision.
A verdict is expected within days. CAS will either accept Senegal's appeal and name them champions, or uphold CAF's latest decision to crown Morocco. Many believe the decision of the highest international sports court cannot be challenged.
Yet according to a report in the French newspaper "Le Parisien", the matter is not entirely closed. The legal system allows a party to challenge CAS rulings before the Swiss Federal Tribunal under specific and exceptional conditions.
What cases allow an appeal against CAS rulings?
The Court of Arbitration for Sport's official website explains that all its rulings can be appealed before the Swiss Federal Tribunal, the country's highest judicial authority. This is restricted to a very narrow set of legal grounds.
A ruling can only be annulled if one party proves a flaw in the composition of the arbitration panel, that the panel exceeded the limits of the requests put to it, that it violated the principle of equality between the parties or the right to have their arguments heard, or that the ruling conflicts with public policy.
Put simply, the Swiss Federal Tribunal cannot reconsider the details of the match or re-evaluate the case on sporting and legal grounds purely because it disagrees with the outcome CAS reached. Its intervention is limited to specific cases tied to fundamental procedures and the soundness of the arbitration panel's composition.
A limited proportion of rulings are subject to appeal
Such challenges remain the exception. The report notes that only around 6% of rulings issued by the Court of Arbitration for Sport are appealed before the Swiss Federal Tribunal each year.
In theory, then, the awaited ruling in the Morocco and Senegal case can be appealed. There will be no automatic reconsideration, though. Any party wishing to object must prove one of the specific legal grounds for the appeal to be accepted.
