Egypt's wrath after World Cup exit: 'The match was rigged'
Egypt were left seething by their narrow and dramatic round-of-16 defeat against Argentina. Coach Hossam Hassan accused the referee of favoring the defending World Cup
Egypt were left seething by their narrow and dramatic round-of-16 defeat against Argentina. Coach Hossam Hassan accused the referee of favoring the defending World Cup champions. "Perhaps they wanted to keep the world champions in the competition. Perhaps they wanted (Lionel) Messi to stay in the race," fumed Egypt's national team coach Hossam Hassan on BeIN Sports after his team's 3–2 round-of-16 defeat to Argentinaon Tuesday. "This match was rigged, and the whole world saw it," he added. Late in the second half, the Egyptians had led 2–0 thanks to goals from Yasser Ibrahim (15th minute) and Mostafa Ziko (67). Then, the defending champions launched a comeback, turning the match on its head. Cristian Romero (79), Lionel Messi (83), and Enzo Fernandez (90+2) scored to secure the win, and a spot in the quarterfinals. 'The efforts of an entire nation destroyed' The defeat left a very bitter taste in the mouth for the seven-time Africa Cup of Nations winners. They blamed French referee Francois Letexier for denying them a historic victory. "The referee was unfair and destroyed the efforts of an entire nation. The trophy is being handed to Argentina," said Mostafa Ziko, who had a 58th minute goal disallowed by the video assistant referee (VAR) in coach Hassan's words "for whatever reason." Egyptian coach Hossam Hassan also had strong words for referee Francois Letexier Image: Erik S. Lesser/AP Photo/dpa/picture alliance In the referee's defense, during the sequence where Egypt won possession prior to the goal an Egyptian player clearly stepped on the foot of the Argentine player in possession, bringing him down. In the eyes of some, it was therefore justifiable to disallow the goal.
Others feel the infraction was minor and a long way from goal and not the sort of error in which VAR is supposed to intervene at this tournament. Potential penalty goes unchecked This was not the only contentious issue. The Egyptians were particularly upset about another incident: "A penalty for us wasn't even checked by VAR," Hassen complained. He and his team believe a foul had been committed against Hamdy Fathy inside the Argentine penalty area just minutes before Fernandez scored the winning goal — a view shared by some neutral observers. Alexis Mac Allister had grabbed Fathy's jersey away from the ball and pulled the Egyptian player, thereby depriving him of the chance to reach, and potentially convert, a rebound. Following the match, the Egyptian FA lodged an official complaint with football's world governing body FIFA. EFA President Hany Abo Rida accused referee Letexier of "serious errors" and demanded not only an investigation into the incidents but also the exclusion of the entire officiating team from the World Cup. He claimed the referee had applied a "double standard, resulting in the Egyptian team losing the match and being eliminated." Abo Rida further criticized "blatant errors and the refusal to review specific video sequences." German former referees weigh in "You can see the jersey being pulled," former Bundesliga referee Patrick Ittrich told viewers on Germany's MagentaTV. "For me, that's a penalty." Ittrich also noted a general imbalance in how the referee officiated the game. "All the contentious decisions went against Egypt. The negative emotions are understandable," he said. At the same time he stressed that "the procedures followed regarding the video assistant were correct." Ittrich surmised that the VAR didn't consider the shirt-pulling incident significant or clear enough to intervene.
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