Egypt plans to lodge a formal complaint with FIFA following referee François Letexier’s performance in their World Cup last-16 defeat to Argentina. Lionel Messi and his teammates scored three goals in the final 15 minutes to overturn a two-goal deficit and the African team lost to the world champions in surprising fashion.
Before Egypt could score, a foul was confirmed at the other end of the pitch and the second goal was canceled due to VAR intervention. Importantly, a similar foul was overlooked by the referee, even though it occurred during the build-up to Argentina’s winning goal.
The Pharaohs believed Mohamed Salah should have been given a penalty just before the decisive fifth goal when he was brought down inside the area following a challenge from Julián Alvarez.
Egypt is now seeking an explanation for the referee’s decision and is calling for an investigation into what it says is a controversial call. The federation also formally asked the French refereeing team that oversaw the defeat to withdraw from the remainder of the competition.
Hassan said: “Why is there no fairness in sports? In football? I don’t know how to express it in beautiful words. Today we have been treated unfairly. We have suffered injustice.”
He also insisted that soccer’s governing body is determined to keep Argentina and Messi in the tournament. “It might be a marketing issue, they might want to make a World Cup with the defending World Cup champions, they might want Messi to be present (in the tournament),” the Egyptian coach suggested.
“I wish I could be happier after losing. When you lose as bad as today, I hope they (the players) are upset. I wish they could be happier. Thank God for everything, but football is different from what happens in the stadium when you play against the world champions.”
