The Argentine National Team experienced a thrilling match against Egypt, including a comeback and a last-minute victory of 3-2. However, the result left a bitter taste for the African team, which filed formal complaints regarding the performance of referee François Letexier.
From the Argentine camp, the euphoria over the heroic victory took time to settle, while the Pharaohs' side remained angry over alleged unfavorable decisions.
Coach Hossam Hassan and top scorer Mostafa Ziko held nothing back and directly criticized the French referee, even suggesting favoritism towards Argentina.
The official explanation from Collina
In response to the strong statements, FIFA clarified everything through Pierluigi Collina, the head of refereeing. The Italian focused on the two most disputed actions and defended the work of the VAR and the field referee.
First, he referred to the disallowed goal for Egypt when the score was 2-0. Collina explained that the VAR acted correctly by detecting a clear stamp by Marwan Attia on Lisandro Martínez during the play. "A foul is a foul," he emphasized, clarifying that the distance to the goal or the time elapsed does not matter.
This VAR intervention was key to invalidating the Egyptian goal and keeping the match open. The Africans argued that the foul was not so evident, but FIFA was firm in its stance.
The other hot play came in the final minutes, just before the lethal counterattack that ended in Enzo Fernández's dramatic goal. Egypt requested a review for an alleged foul by Julián Álvarez on Mohamed Salah.
Normal contact and correct decision
Collina detailed that, in this case, the referee and the VAR agreed that it was a normal contact within football, as the defender touched the ball first and then there was a usual clash between players. It was not considered a foul.
"If a defender touches the ball first and then normal contact occurs between players, it is not considered a foul," explained the former Italian referee. In this way, the goal that gave victory to Argentina was validated.
These clarifications aim to dispel suspicions of external influences or pressures. Collina acknowledged that some decisions have a subjective component, but he expressed satisfaction with how the criteria were applied during the tournament.
