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Rabat – Morocco’s Royal Federation of Football (FRMF) said that it has “strongly protested” to FIFA about the “unjust” refereeing during yesterday’s World Cup semi-finals game between Morocco and reigning champions France.
Wednesday’s game was officiated by Mexican referee Cesar Ramos, who has received immense criticism from football fans and sports experts for his “biased” and “unfair” decisions in favor of the French side.
Fans notably questioned the yellow card Ramos gave Moroccan footballer Sofiane Boufal when he and French defender Theo Hernandez collided during the first half of the game inside Les Bleus’ box. Instead of awarding Morocco a penalty as many expected, the Mexican referee penalized Boufal and gave him a yellow card.
In addition, the Moroccan national team was allegedly robbed of another clear penalty when Morocco’s Selim Amallah and France’s Aurelien Tchouameni clashed during added time in the first half of the match.
The FRMF said today in a statement that it has sent a letter to the “competent authority,” in which they specified the cases where the Moroccan team was “deprived of two clear penalties, according to the testimony of Refereeing experts.”
The federation also said they were “surprised” that the VAR room did not bring those situations to the referee’s attention.
The FRMF “affirms that it will not hesitate to defend the rights of our team, calling for fairness in taking the necessary measures regarding the refereeing injustice practiced on the Moroccan national team,” concluded the statement.
Read also: Atlas Lions: Lost the World Cup, but Won the Hearts of People
The royal federation echoed the thoughts of football fans from across the world, many of whom took to social media following the Morocco-France match to express their condemnation of Ramos favoring Les Bleus and denying the Atlas Lions well-deserved penalties.
Ghanian writer and sports journalist Owuraku Ampofo posted a photo of the collision between Boufal and Hernandez on Twitter, asking: “How is this a yellow card for Boufal???”
In addition, journalist at CBS Sports James Benge Twitted: “Hernandez lost control of the ball, brought down an opponent in the penalty area and it’s Boufal getting the yellow?”
The game between Morocco and France ended with the European team clinching a 2-0 win and qualifying for the World Cup final, where they are set to lock horns with Argentina on December 18.
Meanwhile, Morocco will play against Croatia on December 17 as part of the third-place playoff.
