Senegal gets CAS date for appeal to regain AFCON title won in chaotic final against Morocco

GENEVA (AP) — Senegal’s appeal to regain the Africa Cup of Nations title it won in a chaotic final against host nation Morocco in January will be heard at sport’s highest court on Oct. 8.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport said Friday the hearing will be held behind closed doors at its headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, with no target date set for a verdict.

CAS judges can typically take several months to announce their decision, and the AFCON case will be rigorously scrutinized after provoking a furor in African soccer and political circles.

Senegal beat Morocco 1-0 after extra time in an extraordinary final in Rabat on Jan. 18.

Morocco was awarded the title several weeks later when appeal judges for the Confederation of African Football ruled Senegal defaulted the game by leaving the field to protest a penalty kick being awarded to Morocco.

Preparing the appeal hearing was in process throughout the World Cup where Morocco reached the quarterfinals and Senegal stunningly lost in the round of 32 against Belgium after leading 2-0 late in the game.

“At this stage, CAS cannot state when a final decision will be rendered but it will not be on the day of the hearing,” the court said Friday in a statement.

The AFCON final drama erupted in stoppage time after the regulation 90 minutes with the score tied at 0-0.

Senegal players walked off the field and delayed play for 15 minutes when Morocco was awarded the penalty that was eventually saved.

Senegal's star forward Sadio Mané was credited with helping persuade his team to complete the game.

That avoided the game being abandoned amid angry scenes in the stadium as Moroccan police clashed with Senegal fans. Tensions had risen when Senegal had a goal disallowed in stoppage time, minutes before the penalty was awarded.

Morocco's missed penalty kick also entered soccer lore. Stepping up for what shaped as the final play of the game, Morocco forward Brahim Díaz attempted a delicate slow chip shot — known as a “Panenka” — that Senegal goalkeeper Édouard Mendy stood up to save easily.

Fallout from the final continued into May. Morocco's King Mohammed VI pardoned 18 Senegal fans who were jailed for up to one year because of the clashes in the stadium.

The CAF appeal ruling in March seemed to ignore the laws of soccer which state the referee’s decision on the field of play is final.

The judges, however, cited a CAF tournament rule that any team refusing to play “shall be eliminated for good from the current competition.” Senegal's refusal to play lasted several minutes though did not force or persuade the referee to abandon the game.

The decision to strip the title from Senegal fueled a perception that Morocco, which will co-host the 2030 World Cup with Spain and Portugal, has increasing influence in international soccer politics.

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

FILE - Senegal supporters clash with security services after a controversial penalty was awarded to Morocco late on during the Africa Cup of Nations final soccer match between Senegal and Morocco in Rabat, Morocco, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Youssef Loulidi, File)

FILE - Senegal's Idrissa Gueye calls players to walk off the ptich during the Africa Cup of Nations final soccer match between Senegal and Morocco, in Rabat, Morocco, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy, File)

FILE - Senegal's Sadio Mane holds the trophy aloft as he celebrates with teammates after winning the Africa Cup of Nations final soccer match between Senegal and Morocco in Rabat, Morocco, Sunday, Jan. 18, 2026. (AP Photo/Youssef Loulidi, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — South Carolina was selected Friday to once again lead off the Democratic Party’s 2028 presidential nominating schedule, most likely cementing a dramatic break from decades of tradition by keeping Iowa off the top of the calendar and elevating more racially diverse states.

The decision by the Democratic National Committee’s Rules and Bylaws Committee will need to be approved by the full organization, which is scheduled to meet in August.

South Carolina or Nevada had been expected to go first, with each state aggressively campaigning for the coveted spot.

President Joe Biden successfully pushed to move South Carolina to the front of Democrats’ 2024 calendar after the state revived his struggling 2020 presidential campaign. South Carolina has long been the first Southern contest and has served as a key test of candidates’ support among Black voters.

Democratic leaders in a handful of southern states had lobbied for South Carolina to reprise its role as the party’s first-in-the-nation contest holder, arguing in a letter to the DNC that the state best represents the initial playing field for presidential candidates to build the coalitions needed to win and serves as “a moral and political compass for our party and our nation.”

The overhaul reflects Democrats’ effort to give greater influence to states that better mirror the party’s diverse coalition, particularly Black and Latino voters, after years of a calendar led by Iowa and New Hampshire, two states with overwhelmingly white electorates.

“I think that it is good that we don't take the order for granted, and just copy and paste it every cycle,” New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a progressive considered a potential 2028 candidate, said before the selection was announced.

The decision will also shape the opening stage of what is expected to be a crowded Democratic presidential primary. Without an incumbent or clear frontrunner, the states that vote first could once again play an outsized role in determining which candidates gain momentum, attract donors and emerge as viable contenders.

Republicans still need to do their calendar. They're expected to stick with their traditional early-state lineup led off by Iowa and New Hampshire.

The calendar decision is one of the first milestones in what's expected to be a tumultuous two-year sprint to the Democratic nomination.

There has not been a truly open Democratic presidential primary — without an incumbent president or a dominant frontrunner — in almost two decades.

FILE - The U.S. and South Carolina flags hang in the South Carolina statehouse, March 16, 2021, in Columbia, S.C . (AP Photo/Jeffrey Collins, File)

FILE - Precinct 68 Iowa Caucus voters seated in the Biden section hold up their first votes of the caucus as they are counted at the Knapp Center on the Drake University campus in Des Moines, Iowa, Feb. 3, 2020. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

FILE - U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., speaks to attendees at the South Carolina Democratic Party's Blue Palmetto Dinner on May 29, 2026, in Columbia S.C. (AP Photo/Meg Kinnard, File)

FILE - Democratic National Committee chair Ken Martin speaks during an interview with The Associated Press at DNC headquarters, Jan. 12, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Allison Robbert, File)