Morocco king pardons jailed Senegal football fans for humanitarian reasons
Key takeaways
- Morocco jailed 17 Senegal fans following fan disturbances at the Africa Cup of Nations final in January.
- The Muslim holiday will be celebrated on Wednesday in Morocco.
- The 18 fans were jailed following a pitch invasion that followed the awarding of a penalty to Morocco in injury time of the final on January 18.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
Morocco jailed 17 Senegal fans following fan disturbances at the Africa Cup of Nations final in January.
xwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogle Add Al Jazeera on Googleinfo Morocco's Yassine Bounou reacts as fans invade the pitch after Morocco were awarded a penalty following a VAR review [Amr Abdallah Dalsh/Reuters]By Kevin Hand and AFPPublished On 23 May 202623 May 2026Morocco’s King Mohammed VI has pardoned the Senegalese football supporters jailed after violence at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) final in Rabat for “humanitarian reasons”, a royal court statement has confirmed.
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”.