Egypt’s football federation says it has formally asked FIFA to remove the officials who oversaw its World Cup last-16 defeat to Argentina, accusing the refereeing team of “double standards” and “serious mistakes.”
The Egyptian Football Association said it had lodged a complaint with world football’s governing body after Egypt’s 3-2 loss in Atlanta, a result that ended the team’s hopes of reaching a first-ever World Cup quarter-final.
Egypt were leading 1-0 in the second half when Mostafa Zico had a goal ruled out following a VAR review. The decision came after Marwan Attia was judged to have stepped on Lisandro Martinez’s foot earlier in the move.
Egypt were also furious that no penalty was awarded when Mohamed Salah appeared to go down in the Argentina box moments before the reigning champions launched the attack that led to their stoppage-time winner.
“Hany Abou Rida, president of the Egyptian Football Association, filed a complaint with FIFA, demanding an investigation into 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,” the EFA said.
The federation called for an investigation into both the on-field officials and the VAR team, accusing them of “blatant errors” and of refusing to review some incidents.
It also demanded that the referee and his entire crew be excluded from the rest of the tournament after an investigation, alleging “discrimination against the Egyptian national team.”
Argentina captain Lionel Messi helped turn the match around late on, setting up Argentina’s first goal in the 79th minute before scoring the equaliser four minutes later.
After the match, Egypt manager Hossam Hassan said his team had been “treated unfairly” and suggested the officials may have wanted Argentina and Messi to remain in the competition.
“Perhaps they wanted to keep the world champion in the competition. Perhaps they wanted Messi to stay in the running,” Hassan said.
Zico was even more direct, claiming the tournament had been “fixed.”
“The referee was really unfair. The injustice was clear,” he said. “There has been unfairness right from the start of the match.”
FIFA has not yet commented on the Egyptian complaint.
Refereeing protests at World Cups rarely succeed. In 2022, France lodged a protest after Antoine Griezmann’s late goal against Tunisia was ruled out by VAR, but FIFA dismissed the appeal without offering a detailed explanation.
Argentina will now face Switzerland in the quarter-finals in Kansas City on Saturday.