Egypt have been left fuming following their World Cup exit and have laid the blame squarely at referee Francois Letexier with the country’s bosses lodging a complaint with FIFA
Egypt boss Hossam Hassan was left fuming with some of the refereeing decisions(Image: Photo by ROBERTO SCHMIDT / AFP via Getty Images)
Egypt will submit an official protest to FIFA following the performance of referee Francois Letexier during their World Cup quarter-final loss to Argentina.
Egypt’s hopes of a major upset were ended by Enzo Fernandez’s late header, but the team felt that the referee played an integral part in their loss with two major decisions going against them. As a result Egyptian Football Association president Hany Abo Rida has submitted a formal complaint, reports Diario AS.
Egypt saw a second goal ruled out after VAR intervened, citing a foul at the other end of the pitch before they went and scored. Crucially a similar foul was then ignored by the officials, despite it taking place in the build-up to Argentina’s winner.
The Pharaohs thought they should’ve had a penalty moments before the decisive fifth goal as Mohamed Salah was brought down inside the box following a challenge by Julian Alvarez.
Egypt are now seeking an explanation on the referee’s decision and have called for an investigation into what they describe as controversial decisions. The federation has also officially called for the French officiating team who presided over their loss be removed from the remainder of the tournament.
Argentina’s winner led to unsavoury scenes on the touchline with the Egyptian bench up in arms about the decision that went against them. Goalkeeper coach Saafan El-Sagheer was shown a red card and manager Hossam Hassan had to be dragged away from a confrontation with the official.
Egypt were left furious after Argentina’s winning goal(Image: Getty Images)
Hassan said: “Why isn’t there any fairness in sport? In football? I do not want to try to put it nicely here with beautiful wording. We have been treated unfairly today. We have suffered injustice.”
He then claimed that there was a determination from football’s bosses to keep Argentina and Messi in the tournament. “It could be a matter of marketing, they could want to make a World Cup with the champion of the last World Cup, they want Messi to exist (in the tournament),” suggested the Egypt boss.
“I wish we could be happier with the loss, but with a severe loss like today I say to them (my players) be upset. We wish we could be happier. Thank God for everything but football is different from what happens in the stadium when we are playing against the world champions.”
