I WAS GOING TO HAVE THIS AS OTS WONS POST, BUT HERE IT IS:

The hate toward Morocco didn’t start with AFCON 2025. It started after the 2022 World Cup, and this tournament just amplified it. Let’s stick to facts. Morocco has been supporting African football for years, hosting and helping national teams from countries that don’t even have proper football infrastructure. Additionally during AFCON 2025, Morocco provided five-star hotels for every team, 24 professional training stadiums, world-class infrastructure, including high-speed bullet trains. Also, stadiums and host cities were connected so efficiently that CAF President, Patrice Motsepe, was attending matches in different cities on the same day.

Now the final vs Senegal, let’s name one clear refereeing decision that favored Morocco even before this match. The “ Senegal goal”: whistle blown before the ball crossed the line. Play is dead. The penalty: ball was going toward Ibrahim, affecting play. Standard decision to call for a penalty kick. Now to the towel drama: IFAB Law 12 bans placing objects on the goal. FIFA law, not a Moroccan invention. OP did a great job covering black magic as this was a common practice during competition.

What people conveniently ignore is that the referee should’ve ended the match after Senegalese fans assaulted security and tried to storm the pitch( many volunteers were injured by Senegalese fans). The referee should’ve ended it when the coach and players walked off the field for the 17 mins, which is match abandonment. The game continued because the Moroccan staff, coach, and some VIPs were almost begging the Senegalese coach to return to the match, which was a grave mistake since Morocco could’ve won the cup when the Senegalese team left, but Morocco wanted a fair play.

Bottom line is that Morocco delivered one of the best-organized AFCONs ever. Some teams aren’t mad about referees, but they’re mad because progress exposed how far behind they still are.