Key Takeaways
- The Egyptian Football Federation has lodged a formal complaint with FIFA.
- President Hany Aburida demands investigation into the officiating team's mistakes.
- Coach Hossam Hassan claims his team was cheated and suffered injustice.
The Egyptian Football Federation has formally complained to FIFA over what it considers serious refereeing errors during their World Cup exit against Argentina. In a statement, President Hany Aburida demanded an investigation into the officiating team, including the video technology referees, following Egypt's 3-2 loss in the last-16 stage.
Aburida stated that the team of referees made 'blatant errors' and failed to review footage that he believes would have benefited Egypt. He specifically cited a controversial goal disallowed for Mostafa Ziko when they were leading 1-0, which he claims should have been reviewed by VAR due to a foul on Lisandro Martinez.
The coach of the Egyptian national team, Hossam Hassan, echoed these sentiments in an interview with BeIN Sports. 'I do not want to put it nicely and talk about hard luck,' Hassan said. 'We have been cheated unfairly today; we have suffered injustice.' He added that there was a lack of respect or fair play during the match.
The controversy reached its peak when Enzo Fernandez scored Argentina's winning goal, with Egypt believing they should have been awarded a penalty for a foul by Alexis Mac Allister on Hamdy Fathy. Aburida demanded the exclusion of the referee and his entire crew from the World Cup after investigating these mistakes and proving 'the crime of discrimination against the Egyptian national team.'
The statement from the federation also highlighted the double standards they perceived in the refereeing, stating that some footage was not reviewed despite being in Egypt's favor. This included a goal by Ziko which was initially allowed but later disallowed due to VAR intervention.
Hassan further commented on potential external factors influencing the referee’s decisions: 'Perhaps they wanted to keep the world champions in the competition. Perhaps they wanted Messi to stay in the running.' He suggested that there were sometimes external factors beyond technical aspects affecting the match outcomes.
The complaint comes as a significant blow to Egypt's World Cup campaign, which ended with their first exit at this stage since 1990. The team had been hoping for a place in the last eight for the first time in decades, and the loss has left many supporters questioning the fairness of the match.
FIFA is yet to comment on the complaint or provide any official response regarding the investigation into the officiating team's performance.
I do not want to put it nicely and talk about hard luck. We have been cheated unfairly today, we have suffered injustice.
Hossam Hassan, Coach of the Egyptian national team
Aburida demanded the investigation of the entire team of referees, including the video technology referees, because of the blatant errors and insisting on not reviewing some of the footage that we believe are in favour of the Egyptian national team.
Egyptian Football Federation statement
