CAN 2025 – Senegal: Ibrahim Mbaye makes his mea culpa

CAN 2025 – Senegal: Mbaye puts an end to the controversy

AFCON 19 January 2026 at 04:53

Mahdi Zakaria LAZRI

News Editor

CAN 2025 – Senegal: Ibrahim Mbaye makes his mea culpa

18.01.26 FT AFCON - Africa Cup of Nations

Senegal

Morocco

The final of CAN 2025 was not only defined by its intense on-field drama. Amid the chaos of Senegal's protests at the end of the match, Ibrahim Mbaye, who had only just come on, made a move as unexpected as it was clumsy—a moment emblematic of his youth.

Taking advantage of the stoppage caused by the penalty awarded to Morocco, the Paris Saint-Germain player pulled out his phone in the tunnel to the dressing rooms to send a private message on Snapchat. "Peace, we’re being robbed," he wrote, before the exchange quickly leaked onto social media.

Realizing his misstep, Mbaye was quick to issue a public apology after the match.

"About the photo I took in the dressing room, I’m sorry. I didn’t think when I did it, it was in the heat of the moment. That’s not how I should behave and it won’t happen again."

This incident did nothing to overshadow Senegal’s triumph.