FIFA refereeing chief dismisses bias claims after Argentina's win over Egypt

FIFA refereeing chief Pierluigi Collina has defended the officiating in Argentina's 3-2 win over Egypt in the World Cup last 16, rejecting claims of bias and saying match officials worked independently. Speaking in an interview published on inside.fifa.com on Thursday, Collina said criticism of refereeing decisions was part of football but there was no place for allegations questioning the integrity of match officials after Egypt complained about the officiating following the defeat. "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 (Gianni Infantino)." Collina said such allegations could lead to threats against referees and their families. Egypt were knocked out of the tournament after Argentina came from 2-0 down to win 3-2, with Enzo Fernandez scoring the winner in stoppage time. After the match, coach Hossam Hassan said there may have been pressure on the referee to keep Argentina in the tournament. The Egyptian Football Association also said "several key incidents raised serious concerns and left profound questions about the consistency and fairness of decisions that directly influenced the course of the game." Egypt said Mostafa Zico's second-half goal was wrongly disallowed for what it described as a non-existent foul in the build-up. It also argued that a challenge on Mohamed Salah should have been penalised shortly before Argentina scored the winner. Collina said VAR had correctly advised the referee to overturn Zico's goal after identifying a foul by Marwan Attia on Argentina defender Lisandro Martinez during the attacking possession phase. "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 before Argentina's winner, saying 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, whereas 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 said FIFA was satisfied with the way VAR principles had been applied throughout the tournament.