​Argentina’s football association has said it may have been the target of a cyber attack after emails originating from its official accounts reportedly criticized refereeing in the national team’s 3-2 victory over Egypt at the World Cup. The defending champions looked set for a shocking exit from the tournament when they trailed 2-0, but staged a dramatic late comeback to reach the quarter-finals. Following the loss, the Egyptian Football Association asked Fifa to remove the French referee Francois Letexier and the entire officiating crew from the tournament, accusing them of bias in favour of Argentina.
The Argentine outlet La Calle reported that emails sent from the Argentine Football Association’s account to journalists after the match stated that “Argentina did not win” and that the result was the outcome of “corrupt refereeing decisions.” The publication cited AFA sources alleging that a group of hackers of Egyptian origin was behind the messages, which also praised Egypt’s performance.
In response, an AFA statement read: “We want to inform you that we have detected the possible sending of emails from one of our institutional accounts that were not generated or authorised by our team. Please dismiss any message you have recently received from our account that seems unusual, especially if it contains links, attachments, or requests personal information.” The association added that there was a possibility its account had been accessed without authorization and that it was taking steps to clarify the incident and implement the necessary security measures.
Egypt, frustrated by what it called “injustice,” had taken a 2-0 lead in Atlanta through Yasser Ibrahim and Mostafa Zico before Cristian Romero reduced the deficit 11 minutes from time and Lionel Messi equalised five minutes later. Enzo Fernandez then completed the comeback two minutes into stoppage time, sending Argentina into a last-eight clash with Switzerland on Sunday.
After the defeat, Egypt coach Hossam Hassan criticised the officiating, saying his side had been “treated unfairly” and “suffered injustice.” He added: “Perhaps they wanted to keep the world champions in the competition. Perhaps they wanted Messi to stay in the running.” Hassan claimed there appeared to be pressure on this outcome from the Argentine side and suggested that the world champions had enjoyed support at every level. He implied that outside forces or biases may have influenced the match, casting doubt on the impartiality of the refereeing as Egypt demanded accountability.