Controversy surrounding Argentina’s run at the FIFA World Cup has intensified ahead of the defending champions’ semi-final against England, with an online petition demanding the team’s expulsion from the tournament attracting more than 10 million signatures.
The petition, hosted on argentinaout.com, alleges that FIFA and match officials have consistently favoured Lionel Messi and Argentina throughout the tournament. By Wednesday evening, it had crossed its target of 10 million signatures.
Petition alleges FIFA bias towards Argentina
The organisers claim refereeing decisions throughout Argentina’s campaign have unfairly benefited the three-time world champions.
“It is obvious that FIFA and the referees are biased toward Lionel Messi and Argentina,” the petition read. “Why should the rest of the world compete when the winner has already been decided? Kick Argentina out of the World Cup and give everyone else a fair chance.”
The allegations gained momentum after Argentina’s opening match against Algeria, where critics argued Messi avoided disciplinary action for a challenge that they believe would have resulted in a red card for another player.
Debate escalated further after Argentina’s Round of 32 victory over Egypt. Despite trailing 2-0, Argentina scored three goals in the final 13 minutes to complete a dramatic comeback after Messi had missed a first-half penalty.
Egypt questions refereeing decisions
Egypt strongly criticised the officiating after the match, claiming a goal they scored was ruled out following a VAR review for an earlier foul, while Argentina’s late winner was allowed despite what they alleged was a foul on captain Mohamed Salah.
Egypt argued that VAR should have reviewed the incident involving Salah and awarded a penalty instead of allowing play to continue.
“I’ll say what I think, regardless of the consequences. This has clearly been rigged, and everyone has seen it. If they want them to win so badly, why are they inviting everyone to participate in the World Cup?” Egypt manager Hossam Hassan said.
“FIFA promotes ‘Fair Play’, but we didn’t see it on the pitch … without those mistakes, the result would’ve been different,” he added.
Scaloni dismisses favouritism claims
Ahead of Argentina’s quarter-final against Switzerland, coach Lionel Scaloni rejected suggestions that his team had received preferential treatment, arguing that modern technology leaves little room for manipulation.
“There are people who don’t like to see Argentina win. These comments only inspire my team to play better football,” Scaloni said, adding that accusations against Argentina were nothing new.
“In 1986, they also said Argentina was getting unfair advantages. This is nothing new for us,” he said, referring to Argentina’s World Cup triumph in Mexico.
“With VAR and all the technology we have today, it’s extremely difficult to help anyone. There is no room for different interpretations.”
Scaloni also blamed social media for amplifying the controversy.
“But there is no favouritism. On the contrary, it’s very difficult to help anyone nowadays. I don’t know, maybe many years ago this kind of thing was possible, I’m not sure, but today, it’s next to impossible,” he said.
The winners of the Argentina-England semi-final will face Spain in the World Cup final after the European champions defeated France 2-0 to book their place in the title clash.
