CAS REFERS PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION CASE BACK TO SENEGALESE FOOTBALL FEDERATION
Lausanne, 21 August 2026 – The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has ruled that an appeal concerning the validity of the Senegalese Football Federation (FSF, in French) presidential election must be referred back to the FSF Electoral Appeals Committee (the Committee) for a new decision. The Committee must further investigate an initial appeal by 2025 presidential candidate Mr Mady Touré, which had been declared inadmissible, in accordance with the grounds set out in the CAS decision.
On 2 and 3 August 2025, an Elective General Assembly (EGA) of the FSF took place which included the election of the President of the FSF and 16 Committee members. Mr Touré was present at the EGA until 2am on 3 August 2025 when he informed the FSF Electoral Committee Chair of his decision to suspend his participation in the second round of the election and to leave. Mr Aboulaye Fall was then elected President for a four-year mandate.
Mr Touré subsequently lodged an appeal with the FSF Electoral Appeals Committee seeking the annulment of the electoral process, and that new elections be organised. He argued that he withdrew from the election when he realised that there were irregularities in the conduct of proceedings and a lack of transparency in the verification and the counting of votes. The Committee declared his appeal inadmissible on 25 August 2025.
Mr Touré subsequently filed an appeal to CAS on 11 September 2025 against the FSF, Mr Aboulaye Fall and three other presidential candidates who also participated in the election. He requested to annul the Committee’s declaration and to consequently annul the election that took place at the EGA, requesting that a new EGA is convened to elect a new president of the federation.
A CAS hearing was held remotely on 10 March 2026. The CAS Panel heard the arguments and closely examined the FSF electoral code. They concluded that the Committee’s declaration that Mr Touré’s appeal was inadmissible is not founded in law and in violation of the FSF electoral code. They found that Mr Touré’s appeal should have been examined on the merits and a decision with grounds should have been made by the FSF Electoral Appeals Committee.
In the absence of investigative measures by the Committee, the Panel does not have sufficient evidence to rule on Mr Touré’s further requests in his appeal, including the annulation of the presidential election. Consequently, the Panel has referred the appeal back to the Committee for further investigation and for a new decision on the merits. This referral does not affect the results of the presidential election of August 2025.
This is an unofficial summary for media use. Unless Parties request confidentiality, the full CAS award will be published on the CAS website. For legal purposes, only the wording used in the written decision is binding.
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