Two similar situations, two different decisions? CAN 2025 faced a double refereeing controversy this Friday, during the Egypt-South Africa and Morocco-Mali matches, where two suspicious hands were studied by the VAR to ultimately give rise to opposite conclusions.
This Friday evening, during Morocco-Mali (1-1), Brahim Diaz, number 10 of the Atlas Lions, obtained a penalty on a hand from Nathan Gassama that no one had seen at real speed. In slow motion, we actually see the Malian tackle then get up, and touch the ball with the end of the arm he used to get back on his legs.
Brahim Diaz gets a penalty after a handball from Nathan Gassama in the area! The winger takes justice into his own hands, Morocco leads 1-0 just before half-time! pic.twitter.com/DqjbfObyUN
— beIN SPORTS (@beinsports_FR) December 26, 2025
Enough for the Cameroonian Abdou Abdel Mefire, at the whistle of the match, to point to the penalty point, considering that Gassama was not defending in a natural position. According to Law 12 of the regulations, “a player is considered to have artificially increased the area covered by his body when the position of his arm or hand is not a consequence of the movement of his body in that specific situation or is not justifiable by such a movement. By having his arm or hand in such a position, the player takes the risk of touching the ball with these parts of the body and thus being penalized. »
“Really ridiculous”
On social networks, many supporters railed against this decision, putting it in opposition to another taken earlier in the afternoon on a situation considered similar. During the second match of the day, the South Africans were led by the Egyptians (1-0, final score) when, at the very end of the match, Yasser Ibrahim touched the ball with his hand, in the Pharaons’ penalty area. The Burundian referee, Pacifique Ndabihawenimana, did not flinch at first, and the VAR finally proved him right.
The South African coach, Hugo Broos, explained the match that the referees had justified themselves by mentioning the Egyptian’s “support arm”, without managing to convince him. “Who invented this support arm? Yasser Ibrahim’s arm was outstretched and the ball hit his own arm, so it’s a penalty,” he said.
In the same meeting, Bross also did not digest another situation. Just before the break, the referee awarded a penalty to the Egyptians after a slight foul on Mohamed Sahah, which surprised even the person concerned. “Even Mo Salah told me after the match: I was surprised it was a mistake.it was ridiculous, really ridiculous. »
In this group B, Egypt, first with six points, is already qualified for the round of 16. South Africa is second with three points, followed by Angola and Zimbabwe, who neutralized each other this Friday (1-1).
Morocco dominates Group A with four points. Mali and Zambia follow with two points, and the Comoros bring up the rear with a small point gleaned this Friday against the Zambians (0-0).
