Sports lawyer Lombe Mbalashi has said that Senegal’s appeal over their stripped Africa Cup of Nations (AfCON) title at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) may take longer than usual due to procedural delays.
Mbalashi, is a former player status committee chair at the Football Association of Zambia (FAZ).
Senegal has requested a suspension of timelines, citing the absence of a detailed ruling from CAF.
“Well, we’ve got a technical situation here. So CAS, once you put in your appeal, you need to put in a written appeal documentation within 20 days,” he said.
He said when he appeared on Soccer Africa that Senegal has moved to halt the countdown on that deadline.
“But you know that Senegal has made one of their first issues was to suspend the time from running,” Mbalashi said.
According to Mbalashi, the delay stems from the lack of a fully reasoned judgment from CAF.
“Impossible to determine conclusion” – Mbalashi.
“The reason being that they don’t have a motivated decision from CAF,” he said, “What do I mean by motivated decision? A decision from CAF saying, we have come to this decision to grab the title from you because of A, B, C, and D.”
Mbalashi stressed that without such justification, it is difficult for Senegal to proceed effectively.
“So they have to give reasons. They’ve not given a reasoned decision. They’ve given an objective one and not a motivated one, Senegal needs that motivated one to then put forward a proper appeal,” he said.
CAS has agreed to pause the process until the detailed ruling is issued.
“So for now, I think CAS has told them or has agreed to stand down the time and choose such a time that CAF then gives them the motivated decision.
“When that happens, they will have 20 days to put in their documentation. Morocco also has 20 days to respond to the appeal. Then we can have an arbitral decision after deliberation.”
However, Mbalashi said it is impossible to determine when the case will conclude.
“So now, I don’t think any one of us can tell when the decision will be made or when this matter will be heard because of that fact,” he said.
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