Fifa Warning: ‘Nobody can question integrity of World Cup referees’

Pierluigi Collina

Fifa chief refereeing officer Pierluigi Collina says “nobody can question the integrity” of the World Cup match officials following “unfounded allegations” made after Egypt’s 3-2 loss to Argentina.

On Tuesday, the Egyptian Football Association (EFA) asked Fifa to kick the officials in charge of their World Cup last-16 defeat out of the tournament.

The EFA demanded an investigation into the “double standards” of officiating after two second-half calls on fouls went against them, helping Argentina overturn a 2-0 deficit late in the game.

“Of course, 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. When this happens, it may provoke reactions that lead to threats against them and their families. This is not right.”

After the game manager Hossam Hassan said Egypt had been “treated unfairly” and “suffered injustice”.

“Perhaps they wanted to keep the world champion in the competition. Perhaps they wanted Messi to stay in the running,” he said.

Collina added: “Equally, nobody can claim that Fifa refereeing can be influenced by anyone, not even by the Fifa president [Gianni Infantino].

“He [Infantino] has always shown his full support for Fifa Team One while trusting us to work with complete independence. Match officials make honest decisions and, just like players and coaches, they always try to do their best.” “After every goal is scored, the VAR checks the attacking possession phase (APP). If a foul is identified in the build-up and is deemed to have had an impact on the goal, the VAR will recommend an on-field review,” he added.

“There is no defined limit regarding either the distance from goal or the amount of time between the incident and the goal.

“An example of this came in the Argentina v Egypt game where Egypt number 19 Marwan Attia clearly treads on the foot of Argentina number six Lisandro Martinez.

“We believe that a foul is a foul. Regardless of whether the foul appears ‘obvious’, if the referee did not see it on the field of play, the VAR can intervene. (BBC sport)