A false claim that Morocco’s 1976 Africa Cup of Nations title should be revoked is spreading online in response to Senegal’s recent disqualification.
AN online campaign demanding Morocco be stripped of its 1976 Africa Cup of Nations title is based on a false claim, an AFP investigation has found. The campaign emerged after Senegal was stripped of its 2026 title last week for players walking off the pitch.
The Confederation of African Football (CAF) annulled Senegal’s 1-0 final victory because its players left without the referee’s permission. This penalty has sparked a backlash, with many social media users incorrectly claiming Morocco did the same in 1976.
“It was by leaving the pitch and coming back to play that Morocco won its one and only Africa Cup of Nations in 1976,” one viral Facebook post falsely stated. Some local sports media outlets reported the Guinean Football Federation (FGF) had appealed for the 1976 title.
The FGF issued a statement on March 22 clarifying it had “not initiated any proceedings”. It noted the 1976 tournament ended with a four-team mini-league, which Morocco won by one point over Guinea.
Cherif Souleymane, the 82-year-old Guinean who scored in the decisive 1976 match, confirmed no walk-off occurred. “That’s not true,” he told AFP, stating Morocco “won fairly, by the book.”
Extensive research by AFP found no contemporary reports or archival evidence of such an incident. French-Moroccan journalist Said El Abadi, author of a history of African football, said he found no mention of it in official CAF or Moroccan federation archives.
“If such an event had taken place, it would have made a lasting impression; we would have heard about it,” El Abadi said. The false narrative appears to originate from a January 30 Radio France International broadcast where pundit Remy Ngono made the claim.
Ngono did not respond to AFP’s requests to explain his assertion. Senegal has appealed its disqualification to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
