Egypt was leading 2-0. There were 15 minutes left and everything pointed to a feat. Then came Argentina’s comeback, an Egyptian goal disallowed by VAR, and contact on Mohamed Salah that was never awarded as a penalty.
The Egyptian Federation did not stay silent. It sent a formal complaint to FIFA over the refereeing of Frenchman François Letexier, while players like Ziko spoke of “clear and obvious injustice”.
The response came from the top: Pierluigi Collina, FIFA’s head of referees, came out to back every decision and was blunt about something that no one had publicly questioned until now.
“No one can claim that FIFA refereeing can be influenced by anyone, not even the FIFA president”, Collina said.
Egypt, hurt but standing, decided to renew coach Hossam Hassan’s contract. The controversy remains open, but FIFA’s message was clear: there will be no turning back.