Doping scandals have rocked the world of sports for years, casting shadows over achievements and challenging the very ethos of fair play. Football, has not remained untouched.
Following the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations final held in Morocco, 24 players of Senegal football team refused anti-doping tests, according to press reports, saying that the behaviour of Senegal players continues to fuel serious suspicions of a foul play and an attempt to avoid detection of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs).
Anti-doping tests are mandatory procedures conducted by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the American Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) to ensure fair competition. Athletes and footballers can be tested anytime, anywhere—in-competition or out-of-competition—often with no advance notice.
According to sources cited by Moroccan journalist Youssef El-Tamsamani, only four Senegalese players have been tested for drugs used to improve performance. The preliminary results showed the presence of banned substances in their samples, raising serious doping suspicions.
The Senegalese players left Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Rabat shortly after the award ceremony, without complying with the testing procedures and guidelines set by WADA.
Video footage shot by American media company Netflix as well as the 800 cameras installed in the stadium show medical teams of the Confederation of African Football and World Anti-Doping Agency chasing and reaching out to Senegalese players for testing but to no avail.
Refusing an anti-doping test is a severe violation of anti-doping rules, leading to a four-year suspension from sports. Under the World Anti-doping Code, to which FIFA and football associations are signatories, footballers must comply with testing requests.
Refusal, evasion, or failure to submit to sample collection is deemed as a significant breach, often resulting in lost medals, titles, prizes and points.
The consequences for such breaches can also include disqualification from recent competitions, severe sporting sanctions, and long-term reputation damage.
