Mayor Backs Egypt
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani voiced support for Egypt’s national football team and joked about their controversial 3-2 defeat to Argentina in the World Cup Round of 16, as he launched the ‘Next Stop: Better Buses, Faster Service’ initiative on Wednesday.
Speaking about how he would use the time saved by the new transport project, Mamdani unexpectedly turned to football, saying it would mean extra time to “agree with your friends that Egypt were robbed yesterday.”
“With my extra six minutes, I would probably just watch the replays of Egypt getting robbed again and again yesterday. You know, just gotta- gotta throw up the VAR,” he later added.
Controversial Match Decisions
Egypt were knocked out by reigning champions Argentina on Tuesday in a match overshadowed by several contentious refereeing decisions.
The biggest flashpoint came in the 58th minute when Mustafa Ziko had a goal ruled out by VAR with Egypt leading 1-0. Officials deemed Marwan Attia had fouled Lisandro Martinez in the build-up after a video review.
Despite Egypt later extending their advantage, Argentina fought back through Cristian Romero and Lionel Messi before Enzo Fernandez struck the winner in stoppage time.
Egypt’s players also protested Argentina’s decisive goal, arguing Mohamed Salah had been fouled by Julian Alvarez inside the penalty area and calling for a VAR review. French referee Francois Letexier waved play on, instead booking Egypt head coach Hossam Hassan and several players, while sending goalkeeping coach Saafan Elsaghir off.
Egypt Files Complaint
The Egyptian Football Association has since lodged a formal complaint with FIFA over what it described as ‘double standards’ in refereeing.
FIFA Defends Officials
FIFA’s head of refereeing, Pierluigi Collina, said on Wednesday he welcomed ‘constructive discussions’ about on-field decisions, while rejecting what he called ‘unfounded allegations’ and defending the integrity of the tournament’s officials.
Article by Viory
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