Egypt: Egypt Files Official FIFA Complaint Over Referee Decisions in Argentina Defeat

Cape Town — Egypt's football federation filed a formal complaint with FIFA after its team's Round of 16 exit from the World Cup.

The Egyptian Football Association says the match officiating crew, headed by French referee François Letexier, showed bias against the Egyptian side.

Under manager Hossam Hassan, Egypt led 2-0 late into the second half before conceding three unanswered goals, losing 3-2.

EFA president Hany Abo Rida, 73, submitted the complaint to FIFA and is demanding an investigation into what he called game-changing officiating errors. He said the referee's mistakes and inconsistent application of the rules cost Egypt the match and its place in the tournament, and called for the review to include the VAR team as well as the on-field officials. The federation described the pattern of calls against Egypt as discriminatory and asked FIFA to remove the officiating crew from the rest of the competition if the allegations are confirmed.

Egypt's complaint centers on two incidents the federation says went unreviewed. Early in the second half, with Egypt ahead 1-0, a goal from Mostafa Ziko was disallowed after Marwan Attia was penalized for a foul on Lisandro Martínez. Then in second-half stoppage time, Mohamed Salah went down under contact inside the box, but no penalty was awarded.

Egypt's players and staff surrounded the officials in protest, and during the delay Argentina broke away, with Enzo Fernández scoring the equalizer. Argentina completed the comeback shortly after.