EGYPT have lodged a formal complaint to Fifa for the officiating during their late 3-2 World Cup loss to Argentina.

Lionel Messi and Co fought back from 2-0 down to win 3-2 with Enzo Fernandez scoring the injury time winner to book their place in the quarter-finals.

But there were several contentious decisions that angered the Egyptian players and officials that led to them publicly accusing the tournament of being rigged in the reigning champion’s favour.

Egyptian Football Association president Hany Abo Rida has now submitted a formal complaint against French referee Francois Letexier.

In it he called for the ref and his officials to be booted out of the World Cup after accusing them of “discrimination”.

An EFA statement said: “Hany Abou Rida, 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.”

Earlier the EFA had said it “cannot remain silent regarding the refereeing decisions”.

Much of the anger stemmed from the dying embers of the game.

Egypt players and staff fumed after they thought a penalty should have been given at the other end just moments before Argentina scored their winner.

Mo Salah felt he was fouled in the box but barely 20 seconds later Enzo Fernandez grabbed the winner.

One member of the Egyptian bench was sent off by Letexier in the aftermath as things boiled over.

Another received a yellow card before the game was done as Salah was knocked out in the last-16.

His forward partner, Zico, who scored during the game, was the victim of one controversial call when his goal, which finished off an excellent team move, was chalked off by VAR for a dubious foul much earlier in the build-up.

After the game, Zico went as far as to claim the game was rigged, saying: “The referee wasn’t good, he was unfair. His injustice was clear. He persecuted us from the start of the match. He doesn’t want us to win.

“It was a rigged game. It wasn’t our fault. That referee… it seems like this match was rigged.

“We were winning 2-0, and he kept coming at us.

“Congratulations to Argentina on another World Cup, it seems.”

Egypt’s manager Hossam Hassan, who remains Egypt’s leading scorer, one goal ahead of Mohamed Salah, caused a stir by seemingly making a racist complaint.

Amid the chaos at the end of the game, Hassan raised both arms to form an “X” symbol.

The French official appeared to pay no attention whatsoever to the Egyptian manager’s appeal.

The meaning behind the symbol is tied to FIFA’s universally recognised gesture for reporting racist abuse. When a player, coach, or team official crosses their arms to create an X, it signals to the referee that some form of racist abuse has taken place.

Once the referee acknowledges the gesture, a three-step process is set in motion at his discretion, beginning with bringing the match to a swift halt. Should the abuse persist, the game will be suspended, and if it continues beyond that point, the match will ultimately be abandoned.

It’s unclear who Hassan was referring to.

Speaking after the match, he weighed in on the percieved injustice: “Why isn’t there any fairness in sport?

“I do not want to try to put it nicely here with beautiful wording. We have been treated unfairly today. We have suffered injustice.

“It is my own way of speaking up and standing up. I am not going to watch another match in this tournament.”

Source: https://www.the-sun.com/sport/16655964/egypt-fifa-complaint-referee-world-cup-exit-argentina/