Egypt's football federation has lodged a formal complaint with FIFA regarding the officiating during their 3-2 defeat to Argentina in the last-16 of the World Cup. The complaint, submitted by federation president Hany Aburida, calls for an investigation into referee Francois Letexier and his officiating crew. Aburida characterized the errors made during the match as serious and detrimental to Egypt's chances, demanding the removal of the officiating team from the tournament.

Contentious Decisions Spark Outrage

During the match, Egypt held the lead on two occasions before Argentina rallied back, with Cristian Romero and Lionel Messi scoring to level the game, followed by Enzo Fernandez's stoppage-time winner. The federation is urging FIFA to scrutinize the decisions made by the video assistant referees (VAR) in conjunction with Letexier, asserting that several pivotal calls favored Argentina.

A key point of contention arose from a first-half goal by Mostafa Zico, which was disallowed after VAR flagged a foul by Marwan Attia on Lisandro Martinez in the buildup. Zico later scored again, putting Egypt ahead 2-0, and the team appeared on course for their first-ever World Cup quarterfinal. However, they felt aggrieved when Mohamed Salah was not awarded a penalty just before Argentina equalized and eventually scored the winning goal. Egyptian officials have expressed that the officiating team neglected to review footage that could have supported their claims, describing the pattern of calls as discriminatory rather than mere errors.

Coach's Support for the Complaint

Egypt's coach Hossam Hassan has publicly supported the federation's complaint, stating that the team experienced an injustice during the match. He criticized the lack of respect and fair play shown towards Egypt. In an interview with broadcaster beIN, Hassan suggested that external influences may have affected the officiating, implying that tournament organizers might have favored Argentina and Messi to advance further in the competition.

In the wake of Egypt's complaint, FIFA has decided to remove Letexier and fellow French referee Clement Turpin from officiating any further matches in the tournament. However, this decision was not directly linked to the complaint filed by the Egyptian federation.