The Egypt announced Wednesday it had asked for the officiating team who handled the Pharaohs’ 3-2 loss to Argentina in the last 16 to be thrown out of the World Cup.
“Hany Aburida, president of the Egyptian Football Federation, filed a complaint with FIFA, demanding an investigation into the French referee Francois Letexier… after the 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,” said a statement from the Egyptian Football Federation.
On Tuesday evening, Letexes had a Mostafa Ziko goal ruled off while they were up 1-0 after VAR intervened to discover a foul on Lisandro Martinez considerably earlier in the action.
A few minutes later, Ziko pushed Egypt ahead 2-0 and on the verge of making the last eight for the first time, but there was further dispute in extra time as Cristian Romero and Lionel Messi leveled the score.
In the build-up to Argentina’s winner, scored by Enzo Fernandez, Egypt believes they should have instead been awarded a penalty for a pull by Alexis Mac Allister on Hamdy Fathy.
“Aburida demanded the investigation of the entire team of referees, including the video technology referees, because of the blatant errors and insistence on not reviewing some of the footage that we believe is in favor of the Egyptian national team, and we see in it the Pharaohs’ right to a correct goal and a penalty,” said the Egyptian statement.
It also noted that the president had also “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 statement stressed remarks by Egypt coach Hossam Hassan immediately after the game.
“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.”
Hassan told BeIN: “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.”
