AFCON 2025: Thierry Henry criticizes Senegal’s reaction

Senegal lifted the Africa Cup of Nations trophy on Sunday night after a tense and controversial final against Morocco, but the post-match debate quickly overshadowed the celebration. Speaking about the game, Thierry Henry openly criticized the decision of some Senegalese players to leave the pitch in protest after the penalty awarded to Morocco.

While praising the overall quality of the tournament and Morocco’s organizational efforts, the former France striker made his position clear: frustration was understandable, but the reaction was not. According to Henry, such scenes send the wrong message and do not reflect the image football, African or global, should project, even if Senegal eventually secured the title thanks to Pape Gueye’s decisive strike.

Thierry Henry nevertheless refused to reduce the entire AFCON to that single incident. He applauded Sadio Mané for ending his international career on a high note and insisted that the tournament remained a success overall. However, he firmly shifted the focus toward refereeing standards, which he believes remain below the level of the spectacle offered on the pitch. Henry stressed that the problem lies not with the referees themselves, but with the lack of proper training and support to help them meet modern football demands. For him, improving refereeing is essential to protect the credibility of the competition, as recurring errors risk unfairly damaging the image of a tournament he says he will always continue to watch.

“Having watched the AFCON for a long time, I’ve noticed that the referees aren’t up to the standard of the spectacle. Many of the things that have happened in these tournaments are sometimes due to refereeing errors. And I don’t blame the referees, I blame the people who don’t train them to reach the level of football we’re watching (…) African referees need to be given a chance. It’s an African tournament, it needs to be African referees.” The message has been delivered.