The Egyptian Football Association has reportedly submitted an official protest to FIFA following a series of contentious refereeing decisions during Egypt’s dramatic 3-2 loss to defending champions Argentina in Atlanta on Tuesday.
The Pharaohs looked set to pull off one of the biggest upsets of the tournament after establishing a commanding two-goal advantage against the reigning world champions. However, Argentina mounted an impressive comeback led by captain Lionel Messi, who scored once and assisted another before Enzo Fernandez netted the winner deep into stoppage time.
Despite the thrilling nature of the encounter, attention has shifted to the officiating, with Egyptian officials left furious by several key decisions made during the contest.
Among the major talking points were a goal ruled out for Egypt following a VAR review and an alleged penalty incident that was not checked in the build-up to Argentina’s decisive third goal.
EFA president Hany Abo Rida has formally requested that FIFA investigate the performance of French referee Francois Letexier and his officiating team.
The complaint reportedly alleges that crucial decisions consistently went against Egypt and includes a request for the French officials to be removed from the remainder of the tournament.
Egypt head coach Hasan Hassan was equally critical after the match, suggesting that factors beyond the action on the pitch influenced the final result.
We looked better than the world champions in every department, but the outcome was affected by internal factors on the pitch and external factors away from it,” Hassan told reporters after the game.
The Egyptian tactician also hinted that there may have been an eagerness to keep both Argentina and Messi in the competition.
Perhaps they wanted the world champions to continue their journey. Perhaps they wanted Messi to remain in the tournament,” he added.
Hassan reserved his strongest criticism for the officiating team, citing the disallowed Egyptian goal and the unreviewed penalty appeal involving Alexis Mac Allister shortly before Fernandez completed the turnaround.
We have not seen respect or fair play,” Hassan said. “A penalty incident was ignored without a VAR review and our goal was disallowed for reasons we still do not understand. We believe we have suffered an injustice.”
The controversy is expected to remain a major talking point as FIFA considers Egypt’s complaint in the coming days.
