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The Egyptian Football Association (EFA) has lodged a formal complaint with FIFA, demanding an investigation into the officiating of Egypt’s dramatic 3-2 defeat to defending champions Argentina in the World Cup round of 16 and calling for the entire refereeing team to be removed from the remainder of the tournament.
In a statement issued after Tuesday’s match in Atlanta, the EFA accused French referee Francois Letexier and the video assistant referee (VAR) team of making “serious refereeing mistakes” and applying “double standards” that it said contributed directly to Egypt’s elimination.
The controversy centred on a key second-half incident when Egypt, leading 1-0, had a goal by Mostafa Zico ruled out after VAR judged midfielder Marwan Attia to have fouled Argentina defender Lisandro Martinez in the build-up.
Egypt also protested that captain Mohamed Salah was denied a penalty shortly before Argentina launched the stoppage-time counterattack that produced the winning goal.
EFA president Hany Abou Rida submitted the complaint to FIFA, requesting a full investigation into both the on-field officials and the VAR team.
“The refereeing team committed serious mistakes and applied double standards that caused Egypt to lose the match and exit the World Cup,” the association said, adding that it wanted the referee and the entire officiating crew excluded from the rest of the tournament after an investigation.
The federation also alleged discrimination against the Egyptian national team and criticised what it described as the officials’ refusal to review several contentious incidents.
Argentina overturned a two-goal deficit to win 3-2, with captain Lionel Messi inspiring the comeback by setting up Argentina’s first goal before scoring the equaliser. The defending champions then struck a dramatic stoppage-time winner to book a quarter-final meeting with Switzerland.
Following the defeat, Egypt coach Hossam Hassan questioned the officiating, saying his side had been “treated unfairly”.
“Perhaps they wanted to keep the world champions in the competition. Perhaps they wanted Messi to stay in the running,” he told reporters.
Goalscorer Mostafa Zico also criticised the referee, claiming the match had been unfairly officiated.
FIFA had not commented on the complaint at the time of writing.
Historically, protests over refereeing decisions at the World Cup have rarely resulted in disciplinary action or the overturning of match outcomes, with FIFA generally treating such complaints as matters of subjective judgement rather than evidence of misconduct. Source: BBC News