Egypt’s Zico claims World Cup ‘fixed’ after VAR – Sports News
Mostafa Zico blamed referee Francois Letexier for Egypt’s 3-2 loss to Argentina (Image: Getty Images)
Egypt striker Mostafa Zico made no attempt to hide his anger with referee Francois Letexier, asserting the official was chargeable for his nation’s disappointing World Cup elimination.
During the second half of Egypt’s 3-2 defeat to Argentina within the World Cup spherical of 16, quite a few spectators accused FIFA of handing the reigning world champions a “rigged” touch-and-go VAR choice.
Captain Mohamed Salah delivered a good go to Zico, who slotted it previous goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez to briefly put the Pharaohs forward 2-0.
After the Egyptian’s jubilant celebrations subsided, Letexier was directed to the monitor by VAR to review a potential foul within the buildup.
Shortly after, the objective was ruled out when Egypt defender Marwan Attia was deemed to have illegally introduced down Argentina’s Lisandro Martínez, prompting the Egypt supervisor to cry “injustice” in his post-match interview.
Zico has expressed his disappointment (Image: Getty Images)
The officers’ verdict was instantly met with intense criticism, primarily as a result of Attia’s problem occurred more than 20 seconds earlier than Zico’s strike discovered the back of the web.
Zico harshly condemned the call, sustaining that the refereeing favored Argentina.
Speaking with one of the match’s broadcasters (through BBC Sport), Zico said, “The referee was really not fair. Not fair.
“The referee was not honest. The injustice was clear. We did a good job within the early levels of the match.
“There’s been an unfairness right from the start of the match. A 2-0 lead isn’t enough to beat Argentina.
Egypt head coach Hossam Hassan said his team suffered ‘injustice’ (Image: Buda Mendes, Getty Images)
“It’s clear that this match has been fixed. But God is enough for us.”
Despite having a goal disallowed by VAR, Egypt maintained a 2-0 lead until the 80th minute. However, Argentina staged a dramatic comeback in the closing stages, netting three consecutive goals – the final one following what appeared to be an unchecked foul by Alexis Mac Allister.
In his post-match press conference after his team’s devastating loss, Egypt head coach Hossam Hassan accused the referees of making calls that would ensure Argentina and Lionel Messi advanced.
“We regarded higher than the reigning champions — higher in every thing — however the end result was influenced by inner components on the pitch and exterior components off it,” Hassan said.
“Perhaps they needed to keep the world champion within the competitors. Perhaps they needed Messi to remain within the working.
“In football, there are sometimes external factors that go beyond the technical aspects. The world champion received support at every level.
“There appear to be pressures from the Argentina aspect on this end result,” he continued. “We have been objecting to the choice of the referee as a result of of the French state of affairs [Argentina beat France in the 2022 World Cup final], however everyone has to undergo in some unspecified time in the future and we suffered.
“We haven’t seen respect or fair play. A penalty was ruled out [alleged foul on Mohamed Salah], 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 never even a VAR test. Life is unfair, regular life is unfair, so why is there no equity in sports activities? I’m not satisfied by this end result and the best way issues unfolded on 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.”
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