PARIS, France (AFP) — The Confederation of African Football (CAF) on Tuesday stripped Senegal of the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) title they won in January and declared Morocco champions.

Several Senegalese players had temporarily left the pitch late in the match in protest at a refereeing decision.

CAF said “the Senegal national team is declared to have forfeited the match,” a 1-0 victory in the final, “with the result being officially recorded as 3-0” in favour of Morocco.

The Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) said in a statement “its action was never intended to contest the sporting performance of the teams participating in this competition, but solely to request the application of the competition regulations”.

Minutes before the end of the match, some Senegalese supporters attempted a pitch invasion, while Senegal’s players halted the game for nearly 20 minutes to protest a late penalty awarded to Morocco.

The decision to award Morocco the spot-kick came right at the end of normal time with the game goalless, and sparked a walk-off from the eventual winners, leading to a 20-minute delay.

When Senegal came back Brahim Diaz fluffed his penalty, and Pape Gueye went on to score the winner in extra time.