Everyone knows a football match should take 90 minutes but, in its own way, the final of the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) has been playing out for nearly nine months.

Now, finally, one team or the other – either Morocco or Senegal – willl grab the winner. Only that moment of glory will come in a courtroom, not on the pitch.

On Thursday, Sport’s highest legal authority – the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) – will hear Senegal’s appeal against the decision to strip them of the title they thought they had won back in January against the hosts in Rabat.

But those hungry for a resolution have already been warned it will not arrive on the same day.

So how did we get here? And what happens next?

In front of 66,000 home fans creating an electric atmosphere inside Rabat’s Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, Morocco appeared set for a date with destiny as they chased their first Afcon title since 1976.

Instead, the final descended into chaos deep into stoppage time.

With the match still goalless, Senegal thought Ismaila Sarr had scored a dramatic winner, only to discover that referee Jean Jacques Ndala had already blown for a Moroccan free-kick.

The controversy deepened in the 98th minute when, after a VAR review, Ndala awarded Morocco a penalty.

Tempers boiled over on the touchline and in the stands. Senegal coach Pape Thiaw led some of his players and staff down the tunnel, while supporters clashed with security as order briefly collapsed.

Play eventually resumed and, in the 124th minute, Morocco missed a golden chance to end their 50-year wait for continental glory when Real Madrid’s Brahim Diaz failed to convert a penalty, chipping it ‘Panenka’ style into the grateful arms of goalkeeper Edouard Mendy.

Pape Gueye’s extra-time strike then secured a 1-0 win for Senegal, who lifted the trophy for a second time.

Or so they thought.

Unsurprisingly the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FMRF) quickly lodged a complaint with the Confederation of African Football (Caf), arguing Senegal had breached competition regulations.

Article 82, contained within a chapter titled “Withdrawals”, states: “If, for any reason whatsoever, a team… leaves the ground before the regular end of the match without the authorisation of the referee” they shall be “considered the loser and shall be eliminated from the current competition”.

In March, a Caf appeals board agreed, ruling that Senegal had forfeited the match and awarding Morocco a 3-0 victory.

While there is precedent for Caf overturning results during Afcon and World Cup qualifying, others, including one former senior Caf official, argued that only the referee has the authority to abandon a match if a walk-off occurs.

The FMRF said it was seeking the proper application of tournament regulations, but Senegal’s federation (FSF) described the ruling as “unfair, unprecedented and unacceptable” and appealed to Cas.

Founded in 1984 and based in the Swiss city of Lausanne, Cas was set up as an independent legal body designed to settle disputes as global sport became more lucrative and, as a result, more litigious.

For governing bodies which recognise Cas’ authority, it is deemed to be the supreme arbiter, meaning its ruling is final unless, in rare cases, Switzerland’s highest court decides to set it aside based on a limited number of technicalities.

More than 900 cases are filed every year, from more than 50 different sports, covering issues such as employment contracts and transfers, doping, corruption, TV rights and, in this case, the organisation of sporting events.

The appeal will be heard by a panel of three arbitrators chosen by Cas for their expertise in sports law.

In this instance, the panel will be led by 76-year-old Frenchman Gerald Simon, founder of the Sports Law Laboratory at the University of Burgundy and a Cas member for 23 years.

If the panel fails to come to a consensus, its president will make the final decision.

While the hearing, which will be heard in private at the request of the parties involved, is expected to end on Thursday afternoon, Cas have already warned that this is merely the starting point of the panel’s deliberation.

In a statement, the court warned it “cannot state when a final decision will be rendered but it will not be on the day of the hearing”.

Having already waited nearly nine months to get to this stage, the bad news is that the Cas code states that appeal verdicts should be delivered a maximum of four months after a hearing, though guidelines also say panels should aim for less than three months.

The good news is that it can be quicker.

In 2020, Manchester City appealed to Cas over Uefa’s decision to ban them from European club competitions for breaching financial fair play regulations.

The hearing took place on 8 June with the verdict landing in City’s favour on 13 July.

Even though Caf’s appeals board is independent, a reversal of its judgement would deliver another blow to the reputation of African football’s governing body, which has already been heavily criticised for the retrospective decision to hand Morocco the title.

Caf president Patrice Motsepe said back in March that they will “adhere to” and “respect” whatever Cas decides, so if things go in Senegal’s favour, it could mean someone having to tinker with the Afcon rulebook.

The Teranga Lions’ walk-off has, however, already brought about a change in football’s rules.

“The referee may sanction with a red card any player who leaves the field of play in protest at ⁠a ​referee’s decision,” said Ifab, the game’s lawmaking body, back in April.

“This new rule will also apply ​to any team official who incites players to leave the field of play. A team that causes a match ​to be abandoned will, in principle, forfeit the match.”

Thiaw has already been given his marching orders by Senegal, having lost his job following the team’s last-32 World Cup exit, while Walid Regragui, the man in the Moroccan dugout back in January, was dismissed in March.

Both men will no doubt still view success with Cas as a moral victory.

Whatever the outcome, animosity is likely to linger between the two federations.

The FMRF’s senior hierarchy were furious with Senegal’s behaviour, believing the pictures beamed around the world irrevocably tarnished the image of the first Afcon hosted by the kingdom since 1988 – a tournament into which a huge amount of time and money had been invested.

The FSF and the Senegalese government have, meanwhile, leaned into a feeling prevalent across the continent that Morocco holds too much influence within African football.

Other incidents also irked them, such as laser pens being directed into players’ eyes and ball boys moving goalkeeper Mendy’s towel, something which eventually led to the barely believable sight of reserve keeper Yehvann Diouf being tackled to the ground by three ball boys when he tried to intervene.

With the next Afcon scheduled to take place in June and July next year, the chances of a high-profile rematch between Africa’s best two teams is a tantalising thought.

But while the chaos of this year’s final may have given birth to a new rivalry for fans to revel in, there is unanimous agreement that such encounters should be settled on the pitch and not in a courtroom.