The Egyptian Football Federation has formally requested that the officiating crew from their World Cup round-of-16 match against Argentina be removed from the tournament, citing serious refereeing errors and double standards that they claim cost Egypt the game. The Pharaohs lost 3-2 to the defending champions on Tuesday evening.
Official complaint filed with FIFA
In a statement released Wednesday, the federation confirmed that its president, Hany Aburida, filed a complaint with FIFA demanding an investigation into French referee Francois Letexier and his team. The statement cited “serious refereeing mistakes committed by the team of referees and double standards, which caused the Egypt team to lose the match and leave the World Cup.”
Aburida specifically called for the investigation of the entire officiating crew, including the video assistant referee (VAR) officials, because of what he described as “blatant errors and insisting on not reviewing some of the footage that we believe are in favour of the Egyptian national team.”
Controversial decisions in the match
Two key incidents sparked the controversy. In the first half, with Egypt leading 1-0, Mostafa Ziko scored what appeared to be a legitimate goal, but it was disallowed after VAR intervened to spot a foul on Lisandro Martinez much earlier in the move. Minutes later, Ziko did put Egypt 2-0 up, putting them on the brink of a historic first quarterfinal appearance.
However, Argentina fought back, with Cristian Romero and Lionel Messi scoring in added time to level the match. In the build-up to Argentina’s winning goal by Enzo Fernandez, Egypt claimed they should have been awarded a penalty for a pull by Alexis Mac Allister on Hamdy Fathy.
Egypt demands exclusion of referees
The federation statement added that Aburida “demanded the exclusion of the referee and the entire crew from the World Cup after investigating these mistakes and proving the crime of discrimination against the Egyptian national team.” The complaint also sought a review of the disallowed goal and the denied penalty.
Coach Hossam Hassan speaks out
The federation’s stance echoed remarks made by Egypt coach Hossam Hassan immediately after the match. “I do not want to put it nicely and talk about hard luck. We have been cheated unfairly today, we have suffered injustice,” Hassan told journalists. “We haven't seen respect or fair play. There has not been respect or fair play.”
Speaking to beIN Sports, Hassan went further: “Perhaps they wanted to keep the world champions in the competition. Perhaps they wanted Messi to stay in the running. In football, there are sometimes external factors that go beyond the technical aspects. The world champions received support at every level.”
