Egypt Files Complaint Against Referee After Controversial Exit

The Egyptian Football Federation (EFA) on Wednesday lodged an official complaint with FIFA, calling for the removal of the officiating team that oversaw the Pharaohs' controversial 3-2 defeat to Argentina in the World Cup Round of 16.

In a statement, the EFA said its president, Hany Aburida, had requested a formal investigation into French referee Francois Letexier and his officiating team, accusing them of making "serious refereeing mistakes" and applying "double standards" that contributed to Egypt's elimination.

The controversy began when Mostafa Ziko had a goal disallowed after VAR intervened, with Letexier ruling that Lisandro Martinez had been fouled earlier in the build-up while Egypt were leading 1-0.

Ziko later restored Egypt's advantage by making it 2-0, putting the Africans on the verge of reaching the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time. However, Argentina fought back through Cristian Romero and Lionel Messi before Enzo Fernandez scored the decisive winner.

Egypt also claimed they should have been awarded a penalty in the build-up to Fernandez's goal, alleging that Alexis Mac Allister had pulled Hamdy Fathy inside the penalty area.

Aburida called for an investigation into the entire refereeing team, including the VAR officials, alleging that they failed to review incidents that favoured Egypt. The federation argued that the team had been denied both a legitimate goal and a clear penalty.

The EFA further urged FIFA to remove Letexier and the entire officiating crew from the remainder of the tournament if the investigation confirmed what it described as discriminatory errors against the Egyptian national team.

Egypt head coach Hossam Hassan also voiced his anger after the match, accusing the officials of unfairly influencing the outcome.

"I don't want to talk about bad luck. We were cheated today. We suffered a great injustice," Hassan told reporters.

He also questioned whether Argentina, the defending world champions, had received preferential treatment.

"Perhaps they wanted to keep the world champions in the competition. Perhaps they wanted Messi to stay in the running," Hassan told beIN Sports.

"In football, there are sometimes external factors that go beyond the technical aspects. The world champions received support at every level," he added.