Senegal Coach Pape Thiaw To Miss 2026 FIFA World Cup after CAF Ban

By: Bernard Nyankomago Kwasi

Champion Coach Pape Thiaw is likely to miss the 2026 FIFA World Cup following a ban and fine imposed on him by the Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) for gross misconduct.

The Coach has been slapped with a 5-match suspension and a USD 100,000 fine for exhibiting unsporting conduct during the 2025 AFCON final in Morocco.

Senegal won their first AFCON in 2022 under coach Aliou Cisse. They showed great determination to win their second AFCON a fortnight ago beating host nation Morocco in the grand finale.

But there were some bizarre circumstances leading to this historic triumph by Senegal.

In the die embers of regulation time, Morocco was awarded a penalty which did not go down well with Senegal coach Pape Thiaw and his players.

Pape Thiaw, peeved by the referee’s decision, ordered his players to leave the pitch for 15 minutes before proceeding could continue.

Morocco missed the penalty before Senegal went ahead to score in extra time to carry the day.

The disciplinary committee of CAF has acted swifty and come out with the following disciplinary actions:

TEAM SENEGAL

Senegal has been fined $615,000 in total.

• being $300K for supporters misbehaviour
• $300K for players/staff misbehaviour and
• $15K for five yellow cards received in the final.

COACH PAPE THIAW

Coach Pape Thiaw suspended for 5 official CAF matches plus $100,000 for bringing the game into disrepute.

SENEGAL PLAYERS

Senegal players Iliman Ndiaye & Ismaila Sarr suspended for 2 official CAF matches each, for unsporting behaviour towards the referee.

MOROCCO

The host nation has been fined $415,000 in total, being:

• $200K for stadium ball boys misbehaviour
• $100K for players/staff misbehaviour
• $100K fine for Ismail Saibari + 3 official CAF matches
• Achraf Hakimi banned 2 official CAF matches
• $15K for fans’ use of lasers

TROPHY VERDICT

CAF has rejected Morocco’s appeal that argued that Senegal should be stripped off the title because they abandoned the match when they walked off the pitch.

This means Senegal have officially been declared AFCON 2025 winners.