CAIRO: The Egyptian Football Association has lodged a formal complaint with FIFA, calling for an investigation into the officiating team following Egypt’s controversial 3-2 defeat to Argentina in the FIFA World Cup Round of 16.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, Egyptian Football Association President Hany Aburida accused French referee François Letexier and his officiating team of making serious errors and applying double standards that contributed to Egypt’s elimination from the tournament.
The federation’s complaint centres on several key decisions during Tuesday’s match. A goal by Mostafa Ziko was disallowed following a VAR review that identified a foul on Argentina defender Lisandro Martínez earlier in the build-up.
Ziko later restored Egypt’s two-goal advantage, but Argentina fought back through Cristian Romero and Lionel Messi before Enzo Fernández scored the winner in stoppage time.
Egypt also argued that it should have been awarded a penalty in the build-up to Argentina’s winning goal, claiming Alexis Mac Allister fouled Hamdy Fathy inside the penalty area.
The federation urged FIFA to investigate both the on-field referees and the video assistant referees, alleging that crucial incidents favouring Egypt were ignored.
It also called for the entire officiating team to be removed from the World Cup if the investigation confirms the alleged errors.
Egypt head coach Hossam Hassan echoed the federation’s concerns after the match, claiming his team had been treated unfairly.
“We have been cheated unfairly today,” Hassan told reporters. “We haven’t seen respect or fair play.”
He also suggested that external factors may have influenced the outcome, saying the defending world champions appeared to have received support beyond the footballing contest.
Comment