A group of Senegalese football supporters jailed following their country’s chaotic, violence-plagued Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) final in Morocco in January have returned home after being pardoned by the Moroccan king, reports aljazeera.com.

King Mohammed VI granted the fans a pardon “on humanitarian grounds” on the occasion of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, Morocco’s royal court said on Saturday.

Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye welcomed the jubilant supporters on their arrival at the airport outside Dakar yesterday.

“We’re very happy to have them back on Senegalese soil,” Faye, who donned a tracksuit for the occasion, told journalists.

He thanked Moroccan authorities for the pardon but, in what Morocco will likely perceive as a new dig, hailed the national team as “two-time African champions”, even though the January final is the subject of an ongoing dispute before the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland.

Senegal won the tumultuous continental final against Morocco in Rabat on January 18, but the match was later awarded on appeal to the hosts.

With the match tied at 0-0, after a penalty awarded to Morocco in stoppage time of the second half – just after a Senegal goal was disallowed – Senegalese fans tried to storm the pitch and hurled projectiles.

The Senegalese team left the pitch in protest against the penalty decision, halting play for nearly 20 minutes.

When they returned, they gleefully watched Morocco miss their penalty and went on to score a 94th-minute winner.

In February, Moroccan courts sentenced 18 Senegalese supporters held in Morocco since the final to prison terms ranging from three months to a year for hooliganism.

Three were released from jail in mid-April after completing their three-month sentences. Following that release, another 15 Senegalese fans remained imprisoned after receiving sentences ranging from six months to one year. The royal pardon applied to those 15.

The episode has strained relations between Morocco and Senegal, countries with a history of friendly ties. But Morocco’s royal court 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, which will be celebrated in the country on Wednesday, the king had “granted, on humanitarian grounds, his royal pardon to the Senegalese supporters”.

The two countries have a history of cooperation in sectors including tourism and energy, and share strong religious ties.

Senegalese make up the largest foreign community living in Morocco.