FIFA is increasingly being drawn into a widening governance crisis in African football after revelations from the Confederation of African Football’s (CAF) chief of referees suggested that officials were instructed to overlook mandatory sanctions during the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations final.
The controversy, coupled with CAF’s notably lenient response toward Senegal, has triggered a wave of imitation walk-offs across football championships in the continent, raising urgent questions about rule enforcement, institutional credibility, and the need for global oversight.
The spark came from remarks attributed to Olivier Safari Kabene, head of CAF’s Referees Committee, who reportedly told Executive Committee members that referees were directed not to issue cards to Senegalese players who left the pitch during the Morocco–Senegal final.
Such an instruction points to a deliberate deviation from the Laws of the Game as it also compromises the integrity of CAF.
CAF attempted to contain the fallout by imposing fines, issuing individual suspensions, and validating the result. But these were disciplinary actions of limited consequence. Sanctions were particularly towards Senegal which emerged with minimal impact.
That leniency has had sweeping effects with several clubs and national teams attempting walks off in protest against African referees, explicitly invoking the Senegal precedent.
