Nearly three months after the initial event, the aftermath of the CAN 2025 final continues to spark intense debate. On January 18th in Rabat, Senegal initially secured a 1-0 victory against Morocco following extra time. However, a dramatic turn of events occurred on March 17th when the Confédération africaine de football (CAF) officially reversed the outcome, awarding Morocco a 3-0 win by forfeiture.

The CAF’s appellate jury justified this decision by citing articles 82 and 84 of the regulations, which state that a team leaving the field or refusing to resume play is automatically declared the loser. This interpretation has been strongly contested by the Fédération sénégalaise, which has since escalated the matter to the Tribunal arbitral du sport (TAS) in an effort to overturn the controversial verdict.

As the football world awaits the TAS’s final ruling, Edouard Mendy has broken his silence to passionately advocate for the Lions of the Teranga’s stance. Appearing on the Saudi podcast Mo Show Prod, the Al-Hilal goalkeeper presented his account of the events, directly contradicting Moroccan accusations of a collective abandonment of the pitch.

Mendy, who emerged as a hero in the final by saving Brahim Diaz’s penalty, emphasized a critical detail. “People were claiming that we all left the field during the final, but that’s simply not true. There were still players on the pitch. It’s absolutely vital to highlight this,” he asserted.

Edouard Mendy defends Senegal’s position

Further supporting his argument, Mendy referred to the official report from referee Jean-Jacques Ndala. He explained: “And this is precisely why the referee did not blow the final whistle. His report noted that the match was paused momentarily, but not that the team had abandoned it, because players remained on the field.”

According to the former Chelsea goalkeeper, the game did indeed restart, which would invalidate any claim of forfeiture. “The match stopped for a moment and then it resumed, so from that point, there’s no need to discuss what happened because the match continued until its conclusion. If the entire team had been absent, we wouldn’t be discussing this today. But that wasn’t the situation.”

Nevertheless, Mendy’s version doesn’t entirely resolve all ambiguities. According to Afrik Foot, the official report, corroborated by video footage, suggests that almost the entire team, with the notable exception of Sadio Mané, had indeed left the playing area for several minutes. This included Edouard Mendy himself, who was reportedly among the first to head towards the dressing rooms. The conflicting narratives persist, with the ultimate resolution now resting on the impending verdict from the TAS.