FIFA under fire for questionable refereeing decisions and fickle use of VAR
FIFA has come under renewed scrutiny in the fallout from the Egypt v Argentina game and is being accused of giving the Argentine team preferential treatment. Fans point to decisions awarded in favour of the team, led by Lionel Messi, while claiming officials turned a blind eye to fouls committed against their opponents.
The Match
Egypt went 2-0 up against Argentina, with a third goal ruled out, ultimately losing 3-2 and were eliminated from the tournament. At the end of the match, the referee continued to hand out yellow and red cards to officials who protested the decisions, with Egypt’s coach, Hossam Hassan, eluding to max-fixing and racism through body gestures.
Mostafa Ziko’s goal was ruled out following an earlier foul by Marwan Attia, committed on Argentina defender Lisandro Martínez. However, several refereing experts explained that it was not an obvious error, and that VAR should not have intervened.
Egypt also called for a penalty after their player, Hamdy Fathy, went down in the box. Referee François Letexier waved play on, leading to an Argentine counter attack and goal. Late in the game, Mohamed Salah went down in the penalty area, however VAR did not check for potential infringement.
Other Controversies
Accusations have also been made after other matches, including the Round of 32 games against Cape Verde, and a decision not to award Messi a red card to for an illegal challenge on Algerian player Aïssa Mandi. Fans say they have “had Enough” and want FIFA to be investigated for match-fixing and corruption following perceived improper conduct.
In other matches, including Belgium vs Senegal, one VAR decision was made 7-minutes after a foul was committed, raising questions about the technology’s use. Egyptian head coach Hossam Hassan said they were “cheated”. During the game, he crossed his arms to form an X gesture, believed to be a signal for corruption. Multiple yellow and red cards were issued to the bench towards the end of the game as tempers boiled.
Photo credit: Jean Pierre Kepseu (CC Attribution-Share Alike 4.0)
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