The President of the Egyptian Football Federation, Hani Abourida, announced that he has filed a complaint with the International Federation of the Game (FIFA), demanding an investigation into the French referee François Letixé, who officiated the match between Egypt and Argentina in the round of 16 of the 2026 World Cup, which is currently being held in the United States, Mexico and Canada.
The Egyptian national team bid farewell to the World Cup from the round of 16, after losing 2-3 to Argentina, as its players failed to maintain their lead (2-0) until the 78th minute of the match that was held in Atlanta on Tuesday evening, July 7.
In statements to journalists, Abourida said that he filed a complaint "after the serious refereeing errors committed by the referees staff and double standards, which caused the Egyptian team to lose the match and exit the World Cup."
He added that he called for an investigation of the entire referees' staff, including the video technology referees (VAR), "due to the gross mistakes and the insistence on not reviewing some of the footage that we believe are in favor of the Egyptian national team, and we see the Pharaohs' deserving of a correct goal and a penalty."
The Egyptian sports official called for the entire referee and staff to be excluded from the World Cup "after investigating these mistakes and proving the crime of discrimination against the Egyptian team, and causing it to lose the match and exit the tournament."
Hossam Hassan: FIFA supported Argentina as a tribute to Messi
The head coach of the Egyptian national team, Hossam Hassan, made a clear accusation against the International Federation of Football Federation (FIFA) on the "beIN Sports" channel, saying: "We were better, but what happened was an injustice, the slogan of (FIFA) is fair play and respect, but we were wronged by fatal and influential refereeing errors."
"The referee overlooked a penalty for us, and canceled a goal for an inexplicable reason," he said, adding that Argentina "has the support of marketing considerations to ensure that Messi and the defending champions will continue in the World Cup."
"I don't like to lose naturally, especially when it's unfair, and I apologize to our fans, and I say to them: Anna is sorry, we were hoping to make you happy, and our goal was to get to a further stage, and I tell them: don't be sad."
He continued: "We have formed an honorable team for Egypt in a short time, and my ambition does not stop, we want to continue our journey, we have entered the depth of world football."
Hossam Hassan concluded: "We have proven that we are not afraid of anyone, even though our strength is mostly players in the domestic league, while we are facing teams with a large number of professionals in Europe."
Imam Ashour: The ruling has wronged us
Imam Ashour, a player of the Egyptian national team, said that French referee François Letixier deprived the Pharaohs of a goal against Argentina.
Ashour said in televised statements after the match: "We did not skimp on a point of sweat, and we gave everything we had in the match, we deserve a goal, and I don't know why it was canceled."
He added: "In the third goal ball we conceded, we deserved a penalty and it bounced back to concede a goal," according to him.
The goals of the Egyptian national team were scored by Yasser Ibrahim and Mustafa Ziko, while the hat-trick of Argentina was scored by Cristian Romero, Lionel Messi and Enzo Fernandez.
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