FIFA refereeing chief Pierluigi Collina has rejected Egypt's allegations of bias in Argentina's 3-2 round-of-16 win, defending referee François Letexier's crew and declaring that "unfounded allegations have no place in our sport", a day after the Egyptian Football Association formally asked FIFA to investigate the officials and, if errors were confirmed, remove them from the tournament.
Pierluigi Collina responded to accusations that the referee team favored Argentina in the match against Egypt. The Italian response was clear: "Constructive discussion about decisions will always be part of football, but unfounded allegations have no place in our sport," he said.
His reaction comes after the Egyptian Football Association made a formal complaint targeting Letexier's entire crew. "Several key incidents raised serious concerns and left profound questions about the consistency and fairness of decisions that directly influenced the course of the game," the Egyptian federation said. They went further! If the investigation reveals any wrongdoing, the French officials should be sent some from this World Cup.
It followed Hossam Hassan's extraordinary press conference, in which the coach said Egypt had been "cheated," suggested officials "wanted Messi to stay in the running," and announced he would stop watching the tournament in protest.
Collina's response, published on the FIFA website, conceded nothing. "Nobody can question the integrity of the FIFA World Cup match officials... Nobody can claim that FIFA refereeing can be influenced by anyone, not even by the FIFA president."
The mention of Gianni Infantino's name carries an echo beyond Egypt. Days earlier, FIFA had cleared USA striker Folarin Balogun to play after a phone call from Donald Trump to Infantino, and UEFA had accused the governing body of crossing "a red line." Collina's insistence that no one can lean on his referees now doubles as a defence of the tournament's most contested week.
Collina addressed both flashpoints directly. On Ziko's disallowed strike, which would have doubled Egypt's lead just after the hour, he backed the VAR intervention that found Marwan Attia's foul on Lisandro Martínez in the build-up: "We believe that a foul is a foul. Regardless of whether the foul appears obvious, if the referee did not see it on the field of play, the VAR can intervene."
Collina also addressed the contact between Mohamed Salah and Julián Álvarez, and his verdict was equally flat: "A defender who touches the ball first and then makes normal football contact has not committed a foul."
FIFA, Collina said, is satisfied with how VAR principles have been applied throughout the tournament. And he added a warning: allegations of this kind, he said, can provoke threats against referees and their families.
Egypt's World Cup is over either way. The question their complaint now poses is whether any federation's will land differently. Argentina, meanwhile, play Switzerland in the quarter-finals in Kansas City.
