FIFA refereeing chief rejects bias in Argentina vs Egypt

Fifa's head of refereeing, Pierluigi Collina, defended the referee's performance in Argentina's 3-2 victory over Egypt, in the round of 16 of the World Cup, rejecting allegations of bias and stating that the referees acted with complete independence.

In an interview published on the FIFA website this Thursday (9), Collina stated that criticism of refereeing is part of football, but condemned the questioning of the integrity of officials after Egypt complained about the team's performance after the defeat.

"Constructive discussions about decisions will always be part of football, but unfounded allegations have no place in our sport," commented Collina.

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"No one can question the integrity of the World Cup referees. No one can claim that FIFA refereeing can be influenced by anyone, not even President Gianni Infantino."

Collina stated that such allegations could provoke threats against referees and their families.

Egypt's complaints
Egypt were eliminated from the tournament but claimed they had been treated unfairly after Argentina overturned a 2-0 deficit to claim victory with an injury-time goal from Enzo Fernández.

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Coach Hossam Hassan claimed after the match that there may have been pressure on the referee to keep Argentina in the tournament. And the Egyptian Football Federation stated that "several crucial incidents raised serious concerns and left deep doubts about the consistency and impartiality of decisions that directly influenced the course of the game."

Egypt argued that Mostafa Zico's second-half goal was incorrectly disallowed for a supposed non-existent foul in the previous play. Egypt were also outraged by the fact that a foul on Mohamed Salah was not called moments before Argentina started the play that resulted in the winning goal.

Collina stated that VAR correctly recommended the annulment of Zico's goal after identifying a foul by Marwan Attia on Argentine defender Lisandro Martinez during the possession phase of the attack.

"We believe that a foul is a foul. Regardless of whether the foul seems 'obvious' or not, if the referee did not see it on the field, VAR can intervene", commented Collina.

He also defended the decision not to award a penalty to Egypt before Argentina's winning goal, stating that both the referee and VAR considered the contact between Salah and Julian Alvarez to be "normal football contact".

"Stepping on an opponent's foot is a foul, while a defender who touches the ball first and then makes normal football contact has not committed a foul," he said.

While acknowledging that some decisions would always involve an element of subjectivity, Collina stated that FIFA was satisfied with the way VAR principles were applied throughout the tournament.

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Source: CNN