The Egyptian Football Association (EFA) has formally requested FIFA to remove the officiating team involved in Egypt’s dramatic 3-2 defeat to Argentina in the FIFA World Cup round of 16, citing what it described as serious refereeing errors and inconsistent decision-making.
In a statement, the EFA confirmed that its president, Hany Abou Rida, had submitted an official complaint to FIFA, calling for an investigation into French referee, François Letexier, and the entire match officials’ team, including the Video Assistant Referees (VAR).
The controversy centred on a second-half incident in Atlanta where Mostafa Zico had a goal ruled out after VAR judged that midfielder Marwan Attia had fouled Argentina defender Lisandro Martínez earlier in the build-up. Egypt also believed Mohamed Salah should have been awarded a penalty moments before Argentina launched the attack that produced the stoppage-time winner.
The EFA accused the officials of making “blatant errors” and failing to review key incidents, alleging “double standards” throughout the match.
The federation also called for the refereeing team to be excluded from the remainder of the tournament following an investigation.
Following the defeat, Egypt manager, Hossam Hassan, claimed his side had been treated unfairly, suggesting the decisions favoured the defending champions.
Forward, Mostafa Zico, also criticised the officiating, insisting the match officials had been unjust and claiming the tournament had been unfairly handled.
The result ended Egypt’s hopes of reaching the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time in the nation’s history. Meanwhile, Argentina progressed to face Switzerland in the quarter-finals.
FIFA had not commented on the EFA’s complaint at the time of publication.