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Rabat- Following their 3-2 defeat against Argentina in the Round of 16, the Egyptian Football Federation heavily criticized the referee’s decisions, alleging that they led to the elimination of the Egyptian national team from the World Cup.
In response, the Egyptian federation said it filed an official complaint, calling for an investigation into what Egypt describes as controversial decisions that went against the Pharaohs.
The federation has also officially requested that the French refereeing team be removed immediately from the remainder of the tournament because of what it considered to be crucial errors.
What happened exactly
Alvarez tackled Mohamed Salah inside the penalty area and caught the forward on his foot before taking the ball. Many in Egypt see the incident as a foul, suggesting that VAR overlooked the mistake by the Argentina player.
Fans also argued that Alexis Mac Allister pulled Hamdi Fathy down inside the area moments before, but play was waved on.
Those incidents occurred after Egypt had already had a goal ruled out for Zico earlier in the game, with the score at 1-0, following a VAR check that deemed Lisandro Martinez had been fouled in the build-up.
Egypt’s case against the referee
Speaking at a press conference after the game, Egypt head coach Houssam Hassan said: “Life is unfair. The world is unfair. Okay, but why isn’t there any fairness in sports? I’m not convinced by this outcome and by the way things unfolded in this match. The referee is unfair; God is sufficient for me and the best disposer of affairs. He’s wasting the effort of an entire nation. The cup is directed towards Argentina.”
After the game, he crossed his arms in front of him, which is the FIFA-backed symbol for players and coaches to alert the referee to a racist incident.
“We were the best in everything, but the result was… There were factors influencing it, not external, but internal on the pitch, and external before the match,” Hassan argued.
Zico, who was asked if his tears were because of leaving the World Cup or the referee’s decisions, said: “Both. We were hard done by the referee today, and everyone saw that. I won’t talk about something like this.”
