The unusual gesture quickly became one of the most talked-about moments of the round-of-16 clash, with many fans trying to work out why Egypt\u2019s Hossam Hassan made the signal as frustration boiled over on the touchline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hassan\u2019s side looked on course for one of the tournament\u2019s biggest upsets after racing into a 2-0 lead against the defending champions at Atlanta Stadium.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Instead, Argentina stormed back to claim a dramatic 3-2 victory, keeping Lionel Messi and his team alive in the competition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And, as tensions spilled over in the closing minutes, several Egyptian players and members of the coaching staff were cautioned by French referee Fran\u00e7ois Letexier, while one member of the bench was shown a red card after confronting Argentina\u2019s players in stoppage time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Tool to report racist abuse\u2019
Amid the chaos, television cameras caught Hassan repeatedly raising both arms and crossing them into a large \u201cX\u201d while looking toward the match officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The referee did not appear to acknowledge the signal and instead booked the Egypt manager.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The unusual gesture quickly drew attention because, under FIFA protocols, crossing both arms into an X has a very specific meaning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to Newsweek, it \u201cis a new tool to report racist abuse during matches\u201d that can \u201cimmediately trigger FIFA\u2019s anti-discrimination protocol and potentially stop play.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If the referee recognizes and acknowledges the signal, officials can stop play, suspend the match or \u201cabandon the game entirely.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When Hassan made the gesture, however, the protocol was never activated, and he was shown a yellow card instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What happened
Why Letexier booked Hassan instead of responding to the gesture remains unclear. Regardless, Egypt\u2019s frustration had been building long before the final whistle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
During the second half, Egypt\u2019s Mostka Ziko believed he had put his side 2-0 ahead after finishing a flowing attacking move.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Instead, VAR (video assistant referee) alerted Letexier to review an earlier challenge involving Argentina\u2019s Lisandro Mart\u00ednez. After watching the replay, he ruled that Egypt had committed a foul in the buildup, wiping the goal off the scoreboard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although Ziko eventually found the net again just minutes later, the overturned goal had already fueled widespread anger among supporters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While many claimed online that the match had been \u201crigged\u201d to keep superstar Lionel Messi and Argentina in the tournament, others focused on Hassan\u2019s unanswered \u201cX\u201d gesture and questioned why the referee appeared to ignore FIFA\u2019s own protocol.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Game is rigged\u2019
\u201cFIFA cheated. SHAME SHAME SHAME,\u201d writes one user on X, while another shared: \u201cThe game is rigged for Messi aka FIFA\u2019s little princess.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe ref didn\u2019t even bother checking VAR. Man, screw FIFA. This game feels rigged!\u201d a third vented.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, other online users zoned in on the unanswered X.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI had no idea about that gesture. It\u2019s really disappointing to hear the protocol wasn\u2019t followed, especially when racism is such a serious issue,\u201d one netizen tweeted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFIFA literally introduced the universal \u2018X\u2019 gesture so players and coaches could report racism safely. For a referee to completely ignore the protocol and hand out a yellow card to Hossam Hassan instead is an absolute disgrace,\u201d another added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Suffered injustice\u2019
After the final whistle, Hassan questioned both the officiating and the integrity of the tournament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhy isn\u2019t there any fairness in sport,\u201d he continued. \u201cI do not want to try to put it nicely here with beautiful wording. We have been treated unfairly today. We have suffered injustice,\u201d Hassan said, according to Sports Illustrated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hassan went on to suggest commercial interests had influenced the outcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt\u2019s all about money,\u201d he said. \u201cThey want Messi to stay in the tournament. In football, many things happen off the pitch because of interests. What happened was unfair. Egypt deserved to qualify. We were the better team.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The coach finished with one final accusation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI will say what\u2019s on my mind regardless of the consequence. This was clearly a rigged match and the whole world saw it,\u201d he said. \u201cIf they want Argentina to win so badly, why call everyone to come and participate?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Egypt files formal complaint with FIFA
The dispute soon reached FIFA. On July 8, the Egyptian Football Association confirmed it had formally requested an investigation into what it described as \u201cserious refereeing mistakes\u201d and \u201cdouble standards\u201d by Letexier and his officiating team, arguing the decisions ultimately cost Egypt a place in the next round.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a statement reported by Sports Illustrated, the federation said its president, Hany Abou Rida, demanded \u201cthe exclusion of the referee and the entire crew\u201d from the remainder of the tournament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The federation also alleged there had been \u201cdiscrimination\u201d against Egypt following a match that continues to generate debate long after the final whistle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What do you think about what happened on the field? Please let us know your thoughts and then share this story so we can hear from others!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The unusual gesture quickly became one of the most talked-about moments of the round-of-16 clash, with many fans trying to work out why Egypt\u2019s Hossam Hassan made the signal as frustration boiled over on the touchline. Hassan\u2019s side looked on course for one of the tournament\u2019s biggest upsets after racing into a 2-0 lead against …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":14976,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14975","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=14975"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14975\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14977,"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14975\/revisions\/14977"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/14976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cehre.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}