FIFA refereeing chief Pierluigi Collina has defended the officiating in Argentina's 3-2 World Cup round-of-16 victory over Egypt, rejecting allegations of bias and insisting match officials carried out their duties with complete independence.
Speaking in an interview published Thursday on FIFA's website, Collina acknowledged that refereeing decisions will always be debated but strongly criticized attacks on officials' integrity after Egypt questioned the officiating following its 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 warned that baseless accusations against referees can have serious consequences, saying they risk fueling threats and abuse directed at officials and their families.
Egypt exited the tournament but claimed it had been treated unfairly after Argentina overturned a 2-0 deficit to snatch victory with a stoppage-time winner from Enzo Fernandez.
Coach Hossam Hassan alleged after the match that there may have been pressure on the referee to keep Argentina in the tournament. The Egyptian Football Association 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 argued that Mostafa Zico's second-half strike was incorrectly ruled out for what it described as a nonexistent foul in the buildup. Egypt was also incensed that a challenge on Mohamed Salah was not penalized moments before Argentina launched the move that produced the winning goal.
Collina said VAR correctly recommended overturning 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."
Collina also defended the decision not to award Egypt a penalty before Argentina's winner, saying both the referee and VAR judged 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 how VAR principles had been applied throughout the tournament.
