The 67th minute in Abidjan felt like it lasted an hour.
Senegal 1, Morocco 1. Extra time looming. The Stade Alassane Ouattara was a wall of noise, half green, half white. Then it happened: En-Nesyri chested down a cross, Amallah volleyed, and the ball slammed into Koulibaly’s tucked arm. The referee waved play on. VAR stayed silent.
Morocco’s bench erupted. Regragui got booked for protesting. On the pitch, Hakimi just put his hands on his head, knowing what that miss might cost.
Ninety minutes later, Senegal lifted the trophy on penalties. The handball was a footnote by midnight. A “maybe” lost in the confetti.
IFAB’s annual law update dropped at 9:00 AM GMT. One line got circled in every Moroccan football café from Casablanca to Tangier:
Handball: Clarification effective immediately – If a defender’s arm is in a position that creates a barrier and the body is made unnaturally bigger, the distance of the strike is no longer a mitigating factor if the arm is not in a justifiable position for the player’s movement._
By 9:03, the Moroccan FA had filed an official inquiry with CAF. By 10:00, #JusticeForMorocco was trending.
The case was simple. Under the old interpretation, “close proximity” saved Koulibaly. The shot was from eight yards. Referees were told to consider reaction time. Under the new IFAB wording, proximity didn’t matter if the arm was out and creating a barrier. Freeze-frame showed Koulibaly’s arm angled away from his body, elbow bent, creating exactly the kind of wall the new rule targeted.
CAF’s statement came Wednesday: “While the IFAB clarification cannot retroactively alter match outcomes, Morocco’s appeal raises valid questions regarding the application of Law 12 in high-stakes fixtures. A review panel will assess the incident and referee communication for procedural correctness.”
It wouldn’t change the result. Trophies don’t get re-shipped. But it changed the narrative.
In Dakar, pundits called it sour grapes. In Rabat, it was vindication. “We didn’t lose the final,” a Moroccan radio host said, “we lost to an old rulebook.”
Sadio Mané, ever diplomatic, told reporters: “If it’s handball today, it was handball Sunday. But the game is over. Rules change, but gold stays gold.”
Koulibaly posted a photo of his arm tucked tight, captioned: “Natural position.” The comments section became a law seminar.
For IFAB, the timing was brutal. They’d meant to remove ambiguity. Instead, they’d written Morocco’s appeal for them
