Egypt coach Hossam Hassan is proven a yellow card by referee Francois Letexier throughout their Spherical of 16 match towards Argentina on the Atlanta Stadium in Georgia, US, July 7, 2026. — Reuters
The Egyptian soccer federation on Wednesday mentioned it had requested for the officiating group from their 3-2 defeat to Argentina within the final 16 of the World Cup to be thrown out of the competitors.
“Hany Aburida, president of the Egyptian Football Federation, filed a complaint with Fifa, demanding an investigation into the French referee Francois Letexier… after the serious refereeing mistakes committed by the team of referees and double standards,” mentioned an announcement from the federation.
On Tuesday, Letexier dominated out a Mostafa Ziko objective when Egypt have been main 1-0 after VAR intervened to identify a foul on Lisandro Martinez a lot earlier within the transfer.
A couple of minutes later, Ziko put Egypt 2-0 up and on the point of a spot within the final eight for the primary time, however there was additional controversy in added time, after Cristian Romero and Lionel Messi had introduced the champions stage.
Within the build-up to Argentina’s winner scored by Enzo Fernandez, Egypt imagine they need to have been awarded a penalty for a pull by Alexis Mac Allister on Hamdy Fathy.
“Aburida demanded the investigation of the entire team of referees, including the video technology referees, because of the blatant errors and insisting on not reviewing some of the footage that we believe are in favour of the Egyptian national team, and we see in it the Pharaohs’ right to a correct goal and a penalty,” mentioned the Egyptian assertion.
It added the president had additionally “demanded the exclusion of the referee and the entire crew from the World Cup after investigating these mistakes and proving the crime of discrimination against the Egyptian national team”.
The assertion echoed remarks by Egypt coach Hossam Hassan instantly after the sport.
“I do not want to put it nicely and talk about hard luck. We have been cheated unfairly today, we have suffered injustice,” Hassan informed reporters.
“We haven’t seen respect or fair play. There has not been respect or fair play.”
Hassan informed broadcaster BeIN Sports activities: “Perhaps they wanted to keep the world champions in the competition. Perhaps they wanted Messi to stay in the running.
“In soccer, there are generally exterior components that transcend the technical features. The world champions acquired help at each stage.”
