The Cats' Tom Atkins kicked the ball out of bounds in a contest with Crow Zac Taylor on the wing at GMHBA Stadium on Thursday night and should have been penalised.
But Atkins convinced umpires the decision should go his way and played on quickly, leading to a crucial late goal for Geelong.
In a statement on Friday, the league said the review centre did not have enough time to look at the incident and overturn the decision.
It's the fifth time across four seasons the AFL has admitted a late umpiring mistake went against the Crows in close losses.
"The ball came back into play before the ARC had time to intervene on the last disposal free kick awarded to Geelong in the fourth quarter last night," the AFL said in a statement.
"If the ARC did intervene, the decision would have been overturned.
"The AFL will look at its late-in-game process and the ability to potentially hold play to get the correct outcome."
Adelaide coach Matthew Nicks refused to blame his side's defeat on another umpiring howler, while Geelong counterpart Chris Scott flagged stopping play as a possible solution.
"If people are saying that it (the decision) was wrong, it's likely to be accurate," Scott said in his post-match press conference.
"I think it's a pragmatic, logical decision to say, well, if we can get some help from the ARC on those things, we should do it, but not a way that holds the game up for too long.
"If the question was, 'Would you rather it take a little bit too long, but they get it right?' Yeah, I'd rather they got it right."
Atkins was asked about the incident in the victorious Cats' change room after the game.
"I thought it was pretty line ball. I just tried to grab the ball and act like it was mine," he told Seven.
"Yeah, I don't know how they even decide that to be honest."
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