‘We will not remain silent…’ Egypt’s threat on World Cup controversy, what does FIFA have to say?

The Egyptian Football Association (EFA) has said it will not remain silent over ‘biased and poor’ refereeing in the FIFA World Cup round of 16 tie against Argentina. Egyptian coach Hossam Hassan and many players have criticized the refereeing in this match. After trailing by two goals till the 79th minute of the match, Argentina scored 3 goals in 13 minutes to oust Egypt from the World Cup.

“Protecting the interests and rights of the Egypt national team cannot be ignored or underestimated,” the EFA said in a statement. We will fulfill this responsibility with full commitment.

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What did EFA say?

The EFA said the referee did not use the Assistant Video Referee (VAR) correctly, leading to Argentina’s defeat. Egypt had scored a second goal in the 58th minute but a VAR review showed that Marwan Attia had committed a foul on Argentina defender Lisandro Martínez just before the goal was scored. After this Egypt’s goal was cancelled.

“A number of significant incidents raise serious concerns and raise deep questions about the consistency and impartiality of decisions that directly affect the direction of the game,” the EFA said in a statement.

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What does FIFA say?

FIFA refereeing chief Pierluigi Collina said in a statement issued on Wednesday evening that meaningful dialogue about decisions will always be part of football but that there is no place for unfair allegations in the game. He said, ‘No one can doubt the honesty of match officials in the FIFA World Cup. When this happens, it can lead to reactions that may lead to threats against them and their families. This is not correct.’

“We prefer not to focus on specific events during a competition,” Colina said. However, he defended the Attiya decision. He said, ‘If a foul occurs in the process before the goal is scored and is considered to have affected the goal, VAR will recommend an on-field review. There is no fixed limit regarding the distance from the goal or the time between the incident and the goal. He said that in this case Attiya had committed a foul and a foul is a foul.

Egypt’s coach got angry after the match

Mustafa Zico later scored the second goal to give Egypt a 2-0 lead, but in the 79th minute, with the help of Lionel Messi, Christian Romero scored the first goal for Argentina. After this Messi and then Enzo Fernandez scored goals. After Argentina’s match-winning goal in the second minute of stoppage time, Hassan raised his hands in the shape of an ‘X’ to indicate racial abuse. After the match, Hasan said that his team was a victim of a football system that favors Messi and Argentina.