FIFA World Cup™
Egypt want officials from Argentina loss thrown out of World Cup – reports
Egypt have called for French referee Francois Letexier and his team to be thrown out of the World Cup following their controversial last-16 exit at the hands of Argentina, according to reports.
BBC Sport has reported the Egyptian Football Association has lodged an official complaint with world governing body FIFA, citing “double standards” in the officiating of their 3-2 defeat in Atlanta on Tuesday evening.
Egypt were leading 1-0 when Mostafa Zico thought he had extended their advantage, only for his strike to be ruled out eventually after the officials determined team-mate Marwan Attia had stepped on Lisandro Martinez’s foot during the build-up following a VAR review.
They were also denied a penalty for a challenge on Mohamed Salah seconds before their South American opponents scored the game’s decisive goal.
The report claims EFA president Hany Abou Rida has complained to FIFA about “the serious refereeing mistakes” and demanded “the exclusion of the referee and the entire crew from the World Cup”.
The Press Association has contacted the EFA and FIFA for comment.
Egypt head coach Hossam Hassan was scathing in his assessment of the officials after the game and the EFA later expressed its dissatisfaction in a post on its official Instagram account.
It read: “The Egyptian Football Federation expresses its deep displeasure with the refereeing performance in yesterday’s match led by the French referee, and some decisions related to the assistive video refereeing (VAR), which have raised many question marks, especially amid widespread criticism from many media outlets and sports analysts of the performance.
“The union emphasises its adherence to the rights of the national team, and its keenness to undertake all the measures provided by the regulations to preserve justice and the integrity of the competition.”
