The Egyptian Federation Files Official Complaint Against Referee Letexier

SadaNews - The Egyptian Football Association has called for an investigation into the performance of the officiating team that managed the match between Egypt and Argentina in the Round of 16 of the 2026 World Cup, expressing its discontent with the decisions that it believes affected the outcome of the match.

The Egyptian national team lost to Argentina with a score of 3-2, having squandered a two-goal lead, exiting the tournament amid anger over several refereeing decisions during the game.

The Egyptian side believes it deserved to score a third goal after a goal scored by Zico was disallowed following a review by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), due to a foul that the federation considered minor.

The Egyptian team also protested the non-award of a penalty kick just moments before Enzo Fernández scored the winning goal in stoppage time, when the score was tied at 2-2.

Hani Abou Rida, the head of the Egyptian Football Association, confirmed that the association has filed an official complaint to FIFA against the French referee François Letexier and his assistants. The Egyptian Federation demanded the officiating team be excluded from managing the remainder of the tournament's matches, in addition to opening an investigation into the decisions made during the match against Argentina.

Hossam Hassan.. We Experienced Injustice

Egyptian national team coach Hossam Hassan expressed his anger following the end of the match, affirming that his team had experienced injustice. Hassan stated, "We faced injustice, and what happened to us was unfair," pointing to a possible desire to keep the world champion in the tournament or to allow Lionel Messi to continue his path in the competition. The Egyptian coach also announced that he would not follow the rest of the World Cup matches after returning to Cairo, considering it a personal protest against what happened in the match.

Former German Referee Confirms Egypt's Right to a Penalty

For his part, former Bundesliga referee Patrick Ittrich stated that the Egyptian team deserved to have been awarded a penalty during the match. Ittrich said that the collision between Mohamed Salah and Alexis Mac Allister in a moment when the score was 2-2 warranted a penalty kick, affirming that the tugging of the shirt was clear to prevent the player from reaching the ball. He added that VAR did not intervene in this instance, despite his belief that there was a foul that deserved review.

 

Source: German News Agency