Senegal’s appeal against the decision to strip them of the Africa Cup of Nations title will be heard on 8 October by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas).
The team was controversially stripped of the trophy after walking off the pitch during the final against Morocco on 18 January.
This protest followed a penalty award deep into stoppage time, which was subsequently missed. Senegal ultimately won the match 1-0 after extra-time.
However, the Confederation of African Football (Caf) appeal board awarded a 3-0 victory to Morocco on 17 March, leading Senegal to appeal to Cas.
Sport’s highest court confirmed the hearing date on Friday, noting that the Senegalese federation, Caf, and the Moroccan federation (FRMF) did not agree to an expedited procedure, thus following a standard timeline.
The hearing will take place behind closed doors, Cas said, and it confirmed that a decision will not be given on the day of the hearing.
The closing stages of the final in Rabat descended into a farce after a number of controversial calls from officials, players and management alike.
The decision to award a penalty to Morocco after a VAR check prompted then Senegal coach Pape Thiaw to lead his players off the pitch.
Brahim Diaz missed the spot-kick when Senegal finally returned, and Pape Gueye grabbed the winner in the additional period.
The Caf appeal board investigated a complaint from the Royal Moroccan Football Federation that the referee Jean-Jacques Ndala should have ruled Senegal forfeited the match when the players returned to the dressing room for 14 minutes in protest of hosts Morocco being awarded a controversial late penalty.
According to Afcon regulations, if a team “refuses to play or leaves the ground before the regular end of the match without the authorisation of the referee”, they will be deemed the loser and their opponents will automatically be given a 3-0 win, as per Articles 82 and 84.
Caf has also confirmed it is following its own rules, saying in its statement that Senegal “infringed Article 82 of the Regulations of the Africa Cup of Nations” and “in application of Article 84 … the Senegal team is declared to have forfeited the match”.
