Egypt says it "cannot remain silent" after World Cup loss to Argentina

Egypt’s Football Association said it “cannot remain silent” after what it described as unfair and biased officiating in Egypt’s 3-2 World Cup round-of-16 loss to Argentina on Tuesday. Egyptian coach Hossam Hassan and players criticized refereeing after Argentina scored three unanswered goals in 13 minutes to stage one of the biggest comebacks in tournament history. The EFA said the referee did not apply the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) appropriately, citing Egypt’s second goal in the 58th minute, later disallowed after a VAR review found Marwan Attia fouled Argentina defender Lisandro Martínez in the build-up. FIFA’s chief of refereeing Pierluigi Collina rejected unfounded allegations and defended the VAR intervention. The match also featured an “X” arm signal by Hassan to indicate racial abuse, and Egypt’s goalkeeping coach Saafan Elsaghir received a red card late.