Angry Egypt 'demand FIFA kicks out officials' over Argentina World Cup controversy | OneFootball

Egypt have made an official complaint and want an investigation into what they claim were “serious mistakes” and “double standards”

Egypt have filed an official complaint to FIFA and called for an investigation into the refereeing decisions that took place during their agonising World Cup defeat by Argentina.

The Egyptian Football Association (EFA) has accused French official Francois Letexier and his team of making “serious mistakes” during Tuesday’s dramatic last-16 tie in Atlanta, insisting that “double standards” led to their exit from the tournament.

According to BBC Sport, the EFA said they wanted the entire officiating team who oversaw the match against Argentina to be removed from the tournament.

Jerome Brisard was on VAR duty, assisted by Willy Delajod. Cyril Mugnier and Mehdi Rahmouni were the referee’s assistants, with Espen Eskas serving as the fourth official.

Egypt led Argentina 2-0 with just 11 minutes left to play through goals from Yasser Ibrahim and Mostafa Zico and looked to be closing in on the World Cup quarter-finals for the first time in a major upset.

However, the holders went on to produce one of the all-time great comebacks and win 3-2 in normal time thanks to efforts from Cristian Romero, Lionel Messi - who saw a first-half penalty saved - and Enzo Fernandez.

Egypt felt they should have been awarded a penalty before Fernandez’s last-gasp header in stoppage time, with Mohamed Salah falling under the challenge of Julian Alvarez and Alexis Mac Allister appearing to pull the shirt of substitute Hamdi Fathy.

They had also been furious after Zico’s first goal was ruled out following a VAR review for what was deemed a foul by midfielder Marwan Attia on Lisandro Martinez.

“Hany Aburida, president of the Egyptian Football Federation, filed a complaint with FIFA, demanding an investigation into the French referee Francois Letexier after the serious refereeing mistakes committed by the team of referees and double standards, which caused the Egypt team to lose the match and leave the World Cup," read a statement from the Egyptian FA released on Wednesday.

The EFA, according to BBC Sport, added they were demanding “the exclusion of the referee and the entire crew from the World Cup after investigating these mistakes”.

Late fury: Egypt coach Hossam Hassan complains to referee Francois Letexier during the defeat by Argentina

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Egypt’s late protests against Argentina were met by a flurry of cards, with head coach Hossam Hassan among those to be shown yellow by Letexier.

After the game, an angry Hassan bemoaned what he saw as an “injustice”.

He said: “We looked better than the reigning champions, better in everything, but the result was influenced by internal factors on the pitch and external factors off it.

“Perhaps they wanted to keep the world champion in the competition. Perhaps they wanted Messi to stay in the running.

“In football, there are sometimes external factors that go beyond the technical aspects. The world champion received support at every level. There seem to be pressures from the Argentina side on this outcome.”

He added: “We haven’t seen respect or fair play. A penalty (for us) was ruled out, it was not even checked by the VAR and our second goal was remarkably, for whatever reason, disallowed.

“We have all seen the shirt pulled back [by Mac Allister] and not even a VAR check. Life is unfair, normal life is unfair, so why is there no fairness in sports?

“I’m not convinced by this outcome and the way things unfolded in this match.

“I want to put it in beautiful words and say hard luck, but we have been treated unfairly and it has been an injustice.”

Late in the game, Hassan appeared to produce the crossed-arm X gesture that FIFA created in order for players and coaches to report possible instances of alleged racist behaviour, though did not mention it afterwards.