Egypt’s Mustafa Zico took to Instagram to criticize FIFA for the referee’s decision in the match against Argentina.
The forward did not hesitate to express his bitter frustration following Egypt’s heartbreaking exit from the tournament.
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Mustafa Zico slams FIFA on Instagram
After the high-stakes game, Zico took to social media to air his anger, posting a scathing message aimed directly at football’s governing body.
“Did you bring us all this way just to deceive other teams? This tournament is set to be your favorite and we all see it. God is enough for us. Keep running your ‘favorite team’ World Cup. No one cares anymore because we already know who will win. Shame on FIFA,” he wrote.
Controversy that arose when Egypt lost 3-2 to Argentina
The social media storm followed the incredibly dramatic and controversial World Cup Round of 16 match played at Atlanta Stadium. In this match, defending champion Argentina came back from a 2-0 deficit.
Egypt built a shocking lead thanks to Yasser Ibrahim’s early header and Zico’s own clinical goal in the 67th minute.
However, the big turning point came early in the second half, when Zico put what appeared to be Egypt’s second goal into the back of the net.
Following a lengthy and controversial VAR review, the referee overturned the goal for a foul very early in the build-up play.
The final 15 minutes of the match descended into chaos. Cristian Romero, Lionel Messi, and Enzo Fernandes scored in quick succession for Argentina, which began a stunning comeback.
Just before Fernandes scored the winning goal in stoppage time, the referee rejected two second-half penalty appeals against Pharaoh, much to the frustration of the Egyptians.
The winning goal itself was strongly disputed by the Egyptian camp, who believed there had been a foul during the build-up and the goal should have been prevented.
The Egyptian Football Association has now launched formal charges against the French referee.
Hossam Hassan’s booking sparks more controversy
One of the biggest talking points of the match was Egyptian coach Hossam Hassan being shown a yellow card after making an ‘X’ gesture with his arm on the touchline.
The crossed arms ‘X’ sign is FIFA’s universal gesture for reporting suspected racist abuse. Under FIFA’s anti-racism procedures, players, coaches and team officials can use gestures to alert referees to suspected incidents of discriminatory abuse.
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According to FIFA protocols, the signal is intended to start a three-step process, first stopping the match, suspending it if the abuse continues, and finally stopping the match if the situation is not resolved.
Hassan’s gesture did not result in the play being stopped. Instead, the referee issued a warning to the Egyptian coach and allowed the match to continue. This decision immediately caused further anger within the Egyptian camp and fueled further criticism of the referee after the final whistle.
