FIFA refereeing chief Pierluigi Collina has rejected claims of bias in Argentina’s 3-2 win over Egypt in the World Cup round of 16.
Collina said the match officials worked with complete independence. He also defended the decisions made during the game.
Speaking in an interview published on FIFA’s website on Thursday, Collina said criticism of referees is normal in football. However, he said people should not question the honesty of match officials.
“Constructive discussion about decisions will always be part of football, but unfounded allegations have no place in our sport,” Collina said.
“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.”
He added that such accusations could lead to threats against referees and their families.
Egypt were knocked out after Argentina came back from 2-0 down to win 3-2 with a stoppage time goal from Enzo Fernandez.
After the match, Egypt coach Hossam Hassan suggested there may have been pressure on the referee to keep Argentina in the tournament.
The Egyptian Football Association also questioned several key decisions. It said those incidents affected the result of the match.
Egypt believed Mostafa Zico’s second half goal should have stood. The team said there was no foul in the build up. Egypt also felt Mohamed Salah should have won a penalty shortly before Argentina scored the winner.
Collina said VAR correctly advised the referee to cancel Zico’s goal after spotting a foul by Marwan Attia on Lisandro Martinez earlier in the move.
“We believe that a foul is a foul,” Collina said.
“Regardless of whether the foul appears ‘obvious’, if the referee did not see it on the field of play, the VAR can intervene.”
He also defended the decision not to award Egypt a penalty. Collina said both the referee and VAR agreed that the contact between Salah and Julian Alvarez was normal football contact.
“Stepping on an opponent’s foot is a foul, whereas a defender who touches the ball first and then makes normal football contact has not committed a foul,” he said.
Collina admitted that some decisions will always be open to debate. But he said FIFA is satisfied with how VAR has been used throughout the tournament.
