The China Mail - Senegal victims of 'most blatant scam' in football history: federation

But "Senegal refuses to accept this as inevitable", the country's football federation (FSF) president added during a press conference held in Paris to introduce the team of lawyers appointed to defend Senegal's "honour" before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

On Wednesday, the FSF lodged an appeal with the CAS against the Confederation of African Football's (CAF) decision to overturn the result of the AFCON final after several Senegal players had walked off the pitch in protest at a penalty awarded to hosts Morocco, shortly after the west Africans had had a goal disallowed.

The full Senegal team then retook the field, before going on to win 1-0 in extra-time courtesy of a Pape Gueye goal.

"It is not only the integrity of African football but the integrity of the world of football that will be judged before the CAS," said Juan de Dios Crespo-Perez, one of the Federation's lawyers and a specialist in sports law and the CAS.

"This is an attack on the federation, football, and sporting discipline," added Seydou Diagne, who heads up the team of lawyers.

He outlined Senegal's case before the CAS, arguing that stripping them of their title would amount to "calling into question the referee's decision and brazenly violating Laws 5 and 6 of the game", which pertain to the referee and other match officials.

"After what Morocco has managed to get the CAF to do, whether through surprise or malice, if the CAS allows it to go ahead, the next World Cup will be played out in law firms in Paris or the United States," Diagne said.

"There'll be no point in setting up football academies. To get stars on the shirt, you'll need lawyers," he added, referring to the stars that denote a country's victories in a particular tournament.

- Trophy presentation -

A third lawyer, Serge Vittoz of Switzerland, explained that proceedings before the Lausanne-based CAS usually last between nine and 12 months.

"The idea is to request an expedited procedure. But for this expedited procedure to be put in place, everyone must agree," he said. "If there is an expedited procedure, we could expect a decision within two months."

For its part, the Senegalese government last week called for an investigation into allegations of corruption within CAF.

French lawyer Pierre-Olivier Sur has been tasked with "carrying out the necessary investigations that will one day allow me to tell you, and that day seems very close, that a complaint has been filed", said the former president of the Paris Bar.

In late January, following the chaotic final in Rabat which also featured disturbances in the crowd during the nearly 20-minute break caused by the Senegalese protest, CAF imposed a series of disciplinary sanctions for unsporting behaviour on both countries' federations, but did not call into question the final result.

However, on March 17, CAF announced that it had upheld an appeal by the Moroccan football federation, saying that Senegal had infringed tournament regulations by walking off.

As a result, it declared Senegal to have forfeited the match, turning its 1-0 victory on January 18 into a 3-0 defeat, making hosts Morocco the champions.

According to the group of lawyers, Morocco have not, however, received the medals, the CAF prize money or the trophy, as requested by the North African country.

Indeed, Senegal intend to present this same trophy to their supporters on Saturday at the Stade de France during their friendly match against Peru.

O.Tse--ThChM