Cairo, Egypt – The Egyptian Football Association, headed by Hani Abu Rida, announced that it has filed an official complaint with FIFA against French referee Francois Letixser, who officiated the Egypt-Argentina match in the round of 16 of the 2026 World Cup.
The Egyptian national team had exited the tournament after losing to Argentina by a score of (3-2), in the match that took place at the “Mercedes-Benz” stadium.
Hani Abu Rida, in statements sent to journalists, demanded an investigation into the French referee, stressing that he committed serious refereeing errors during the match, and that he “applied double standards,” which, according to the statement, caused the Egyptian national team to lose and exit the tournament.
The president of the federation also demanded an investigation into the entire refereeing team, including the video assistant referees, because of what he described as blatant errors and the insistence on not reviewing some footage that the Egyptian federation believes deserved to award a valid goal and a penalty kick to the Egyptian national team.
The statement added that Abu Rida demanded that the referee and his crew be excluded from completing the World Cup competitions, after investigating those errors and proving what he described as a “crime of discrimination” against the Egyptian national team, which, according to the statement, caused the loss of the match and exit from the tournament.
At the end of the statement, Abu Rida praised the level presented by the Egyptian national team players against the defending champions, describing them as heroes. He also apologized to the Egyptian people and football fans for not maintaining the lead until the end of the match and achieving the dream of continuing the journey, thanking the fans, the media, all officials and the political leadership for their support of the national team throughout the tournament.
