THE EGYPTIAN FOOTBALL federation has asked for the officiating team who handled the Pharaohs’ last-16 loss to Argentina to be thrown out of the World Cup.
A statement from the federation said: “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.”
On Tuesday evening, with Egypt 1-0 ahead, Letexier ruled out a Mostafa Ziko goal after VAR intervened to spot a foul on Lisandro Martinez much earlier in the move.
🇦🇷 0-1 🇪🇬
Egypt think they have a second, but a foul in the build-up sees it ruled out and keeps Argentina in it.
A few minutes later, Ziko did put the Egyptians 2-0 up and on the brink of a place in the last eight for the first time but there was further controversy in added time, after Cristian Romero and Lionel Messi had brought the champions level.
In the build-up to Argentina’s winner, scored by Enzo Fernandez, Egypt believe they should have instead been awarded a penalty for a pull by Alexis Mac Allister on Hamdy Fathy.
🇦🇷 3-2 🇪🇬
Absolute Cinema!!
The reigning champions, with only 10 minutes to go come back from 2-0 down with an Enzo Fernandez header putting them ahead.
The Egyptian statement said: “Aburida demanded the investigation of the entire team of referees, including the video technology referees, because of the blatant errors and insisting on not reviewing some of the footage that we believe are in favour of the Egyptian national team, and we see in it the Pharaohs’ right to a correct goal and a penalty.”
It added that the president had also “demanded the exclusion of the referee and the entire crew from the World Cup after investigating these mistakes and proving the crime of discrimination against the Egyptian national team”.
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Egyptian FA demands referee be sent home from World Cup
THE EGYPTIAN FOOTBALL federation has asked for the officiating team who handled the Pharaohs’ last-16 loss to Argentina to be thrown out of the World Cup.
A statement from the federation said: “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.”
On Tuesday evening, with Egypt 1-0 ahead, Letexier ruled out a Mostafa Ziko goal after VAR intervened to spot a foul on Lisandro Martinez much earlier in the move.
A few minutes later, Ziko did put the Egyptians 2-0 up and on the brink of a place in the last eight for the first time but there was further controversy in added time, after Cristian Romero and Lionel Messi had brought the champions level.
In the build-up to Argentina’s winner, scored by Enzo Fernandez, Egypt believe they should have instead been awarded a penalty for a pull by Alexis Mac Allister on Hamdy Fathy.
The Egyptian statement said: “Aburida demanded the investigation of the entire team of referees, including the video technology referees, because of the blatant errors and insisting on not reviewing some of the footage that we believe are in favour of the Egyptian national team, and we see in it the Pharaohs’ right to a correct goal and a penalty.”
It added that the president had also “demanded the exclusion of the referee and the entire crew from the World Cup after investigating these mistakes and proving the crime of discrimination against the Egyptian national team”.
The statement echoed remarks by Egypt coach Hossam Hassan immediately after the game.
“I do not want to put it nicely and talk about hard luck. We have been cheated unfairly today, we have suffered injustice,” Hassan told journalists.
“We haven’t seen respect or fair play. There has not been respect or fair play.”
Hassan told BeIN: “Perhaps they wanted to keep the world champions 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 champions received support at every level.”
– © AFP 2026
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