Egypt accuse World Cup of being ‘fixed’ in explosive interviews after Argentina controversy
Egypt star Mostafa Ziko was left furious after his country’s defeat to Argentina in the World Cup
Hossam Hassan, Head Coach of Egypt, reacts after the defeat to Argentina(Image: Buda Mendes/Getty Images)
Egypt star Mostafa Ziko has claimed that his country’s match with Argentina was rigged, while also suggesting that the South American outfit were destined to win the tournament. The defending world champions appeared set for elimination after falling 2-0 behind in Atlanta.
However, Argentina netted three consecutive goals in the closing stages to maintain their hopes of securing consecutive World Cups. The match was surrounded by controversy, though.
Egypt had a goal ruled out by VAR following a foul earlier in the passage of play, while they were also left furious by the refusal to award a spot-kick moments before Argentina’s winning goal.
Ziko, who found the net for his country’s second goal, was clear with his verdict regarding the officials and insisted the fixture and competition are manipulated in Argentina’s favour.
He said: “The referee wasn’t good, he was unfair. His injustice was clear. He persecuted us from the start of the match. He doesn’t want us to win.
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“It was a rigged game. It wasn’t our fault. That referee… it seems like this match was rigged. We were winning 2-0, and he kept coming at us. Congratulations to Argentina on another World Cup, it seems.”
He added: “At no point did we think the match was already decided. We knew we were facing the reigning world champions.
“Even before the game started, we knew we would be facing a very strong team and one of the favourites for the title. But if they had won solely on their own merits it would have been very different for us.”
It wasn’t only Ziko who was left seething at the officials’ performance. Egypt manager Hossam Hassan also launched a scathing verdict after the final whistle.
He said: “We haven’t seen respect or fair play. A penalty was ruled out and a second (incident) that should have been checked for a penalty for us was not even checked by the VAR. A second goal was remarkably, for whatever reason, disallowed.
“There seems to have been pressure on the Argentinian side on the referee that has brought about this outcome.
“Life is unfair. The world is unfair. OK, but why isn’t there any fairness in sports? I’m not convinced by this outcome and by the way things unfolded in this match.
“The referee is unfair, God is sufficient for me and the best disposer of affairs. He’s wasting the effort of an entire nation. The cup is directed towards Argentina.”
