Furious Egypt demand French referee sacked after controversial send-off

The fallout from Argentina’s 3-2 comeback win over Egypt escalated into a major diplomatic row as the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) lodged a formal complaint with FIFA demanding the immediate suspension of match referee Francois Letexier from the tournament.

The Pharaohs looked set to pull off one of the biggest upsets in modern World Cup history after taking a 2-0 lead in Atlanta. However, the match sparked a number of questionable decisions by the French management crew, culminated with Enzo Fernndez heading the winner in the 93rd minute for the South Americans, leaving the Egyptian players and staff red-hot.

In a scathing official statement released on Wednesday, the Egyptian federation confirmed that its management had bypassed standard post-match protocols and approached football’s governing body directly.

“Hany Aburida, the president of the Egyptian Football Federation, has filed a complaint with FIFA, demanding an investigation into French referee Francois Letexier… following serious refereeing errors by the refereeing team and double standards that caused the Egyptian team to lose the match and exit the World Cup,” the Egyptian federation said in a statement, according to the AFP news agency.

The core of Egypt’s fury surrounds three key moments. While leading 1-0, Mostafa Ziko looked set to double the Pharaohs’ advantage but Letexier had the goal disallowed after a retrospective VAR review for a fine foul in the set-piece. Later in the second half, with the scores level, a seemingly blatant challenge on Mohamed Salah in the penalty area was waved away without another glance. In the end, Egypt furiously argued that Alexis Mac Allister had fouled Argentina’s late winner from the set-piece.

The EFA has made it clear that it believes the omissions by the video assistant referee team were deliberate.

“Aburida demanded an investigation of the entire refereeing team, including the video referees, for glaring errors and insisted that some shots which we believe are in favor of the Egyptian national team and see the right of the Pharaohs to the correct goal and penalty will not be reviewed.”

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The language from Cairo has since hardened as the EFA took the extraordinary step of accusing the European representative crew of an inherent bias against the African nation. The federation confirmed that “after investigating these misconducts and proving the criminal act of discrimination against the Egyptian national team, it demanded the expulsion of the referee and the entire crew from the World Cup”.

In the tunnel after the final whistle, the emotional toll on the Egyptian camp was revealed. Members of the coaching staff had to refrain from confronting Letexier while several players wept openly on the field. The consensus within the camp was that the refereeing team succumbed to the pressure of the occasion and showed a subconscious bias to ensure that Lionel Messi’s fairytale run stayed alive at the expense of the underdogs.

While FIFA has confirmed receipt of official documents from the Egyptian delegation, it is completely unprecedented for the governing body to expel a referee mid-tournament unless a serious breach of integrity is proven. For Egypt, however, the protest is about establishing a marker.

Speaking to the press long after the final whistle, Egypt head coach Hossam Hassan launched a brutal attack on the integrity of management, directly claiming that FIFA protected the tournament’s biggest star.

“We didn’t see respect or fair play,” raged Hassan, citing a lack of VAR reviews for the penalty shout at Mohamed Salah and shirt pulling in front of Argentina’s winner.

“There seems to be pressure from Argentina for this result… FIFA favors the South American nation and wants to keep their main man and the biggest mover of the World Cup – Lionel Messi – in the competition for as long as possible. I want to put it in nice words and say good luck, but we were treated unfairly and it was an injustice.”

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Issued by:

Akshay Ramesh

Published on:

08 Jul 2026 17:03 IST