Morocco’s King Mohammed VI has pardoned the Senegalese football supporters jailed after violence at the 2025 AFCON final in Rabat for “humanitarian reasons”, a royal court statement said on Saturday.
It said that in view “of the age-old fraternal ties” between the two countries “and on the occasion of the advent of Eid al-Adha”, the king has “granted, on humanitarian grounds, his royal pardon to the Senegalese supporters”.
The Muslim holiday will be celebrated on Wednesday in Morocco.
Senegal won the chaotic January 18 AFCON final 1-0, but the match was later awarded on appeal to hosts Morocco.
After a penalty awarded to Morocco in stoppage time of the second half, just after a Senegal goal was disallowed, Senegalese fans tried to storm the pitch and hurled projectiles.
In February, Moroccan courts sentenced the 18 Senegalese supporters held in Morocco since the final to prison terms ranging from three months to a year.
Three were released from jail in mid-April after completing their three-month sentence.
Following that release, another 15 Senegalese fans remained incarcerated after receiving sentences ranging from six months to one year.
The royal pardon is expected to apply to those 15.
Lawyer Patrick Kabou, who represented a large number of the Senegalese, told AFP they were expected to be released late Saturday.
Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye welcomed the Moroccan king’s decision in a post on X.
