Guinean Football Federation v. Tanzania Football Federation & CAF (CAF Disciplinary Jury, Appeal Board & CAS)

The Guinean Football Federation (Féguifoot) filed a complaint with CAF on 21 November 2024 concerning Match No. 143 between Tanzania and Guinea, played in Dar-es-Salaam on 19 November 2024 as part of the sixth round of qualifiers for the TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nations Morocco 2025. Guinea lost the match 1-0, a result that, combined with the outcome of the complaint, determined which of the two nations ultimately qualified for the tournament.

Féguifoot's complaint, invoking Article 43.5 of the AFCON Regulations, alleged a serious irregularity in the 73rd minute of the match: that Tanzania fielded a player wearing a jersey number inconsistent with the official start list submitted before kickoff. The federation's detailed submission drew on several provisions of CAF's Equipment Regulations (Articles 10.01, 10.05, 15.08, 16.07, 23.07, and 26.04), arguing that jersey numbers serve an essential player-identification function under the regulations.

The CAF Disciplinary Jury — composed of Ousmane Kane (Senegal) as President, with Felix Golbassia Felix (Chad) and Issaka Douma (Niger) as members — ruled on 19 December 2024, in decision DC23192. It held that Guinea's complaint was admissible in form, but dismissed it as unfounded on the merits, allowing Tanzania's qualification to stand.

Guinea did not let the matter rest there. Under Articles 54 to 58 of the CAF Disciplinary Code, Féguifoot requested detailed reasoning for the decision and then formally appealed, challenging a related disciplinary decree numbered DC23198. The specific incident at the heart of the complaint involved Tanzanian defender Muhamed Ibrahim Ame, who was fielded wearing shirt number 26 despite having been registered before kickoff, by the TFF itself, as wearing number 24; the match continued without disruption at the time. CAF's Appeal Board heard the case at its Cairo headquarters on 11 June 2025 and ruled Guinea's challenge inadmissible.

Guinea escalated further still, appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport and asking it to declare that Tanzania's administrative error should see the country excluded from AFCON 2025 altogether, with Guinea designated as its replacement. CAS held an in-person hearing at its Lausanne headquarters on 17 November 2025, and released its decision the following week: a Panel unanimous in rejecting Guinea's appeal and confirming the CAF Appeal Board's decision in full, characterising the jersey mismatch as a genuine administrative error with no bearing on the sporting outcome of the match and no basis for forfeiture or disqualification. CAS noted the ruling issued was operative only, without written grounds, with the full reasoned award to follow later on its website. Tanzania's qualification for AFCON 2025 in Morocco stood, undisturbed after nearly a year of challenge across three separate forums.

The case is a detailed illustration of how a single-line factual dispute — whether a player's jersey number matched the paperwork — can generate a genuinely lengthy disciplinary and arbitral process, running from a first-instance admissibility finding through a national appeal board and ultimately to CAS itself, with a national team's tournament qualification hanging in the balance for nearly twelve months before the matter was conclusively settled.