Morocco have been declared AFCON winners, 57 days after Senegal lifted trophy in Rabat.

I can’t have been alone in reading the tweet from the Confederation of African Football (CAF) last night and immediately checking to see if it was fake.

What it said was almost impossible to digest: Senegal have been stripped of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations title. Morocco are champions instead.

The statement was the culmination of a two-month investigation into the shambolic events that ruined the closing stages of the final in January. The plot was lost when hosts Morocco won a soft penalty at the end of a goalless period of normal time. Senegal’s players stormed off the pitch in protest at the decision.

The final was delayed for 15 minutes as trouble broke out in the stands. Order was restored, but not without reputational damage to individuals and the tournament itself.

Morocco’s Brahim Diaz missed the penalty (I can only ever watch his feeble effort through my fingers) and Senegal forced a decisive goal in extra-time. But fury was rife in all quarters afterwards – Senegal coach Pape Thiaw had to abandon a press conference after rival journalists began fighting each other – and CAF, Africa’s governing body, had no choice but to investigate, pressed hard by complaints from Morocco.

It quickly imposed fines of more than $1 million, but yesterday’s (march 17) move to declare Senegal’s 1-0 victory void 57 days after the fact is an extraordinary escalation, without any obvious precedent at a high level of international football.

History will now record a 3-0 win for Morocco, unless Senegal successfully appeal. They announced this morning that they intend to challenge the decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Morocco’s first title since 1976?

Say this for CAF: it didn’t take the convenient option by sweeping the AFCON shambles under the carpet, which other governing bodies might have done, but Senegal aren’t taking its judgement lying down.

No nation would surrender a major international trophy without exhausting every available avenue first.

The Athletic’s reporters have compiled as much as they know here, and something tells me TAFC will be back with further updates tomorrow (March 18) because the story is going to run. The timing of the statement is a little spooky because only last week I was chatting with my colleague, Si Hughes, about his experience of covering AFCON and the final itself.

Si’s view on the tournament was that Morocco’s absolute determination to win it as hosts made AFCON more business-like than usual, stripping a little of the fun from it. Their disappointment at falling short in the final was tangible, but what Si and I didn’t realise when we spoke was that the Moroccans were about to bag their first title since 1976. It has a massive asterisk next to it, however, the very definition of a hollow victory.

• A Tell Media report / By Luke Bosher, Sam Joseph and Jay Harris / aSource: The Athletic