Egypt to file referee complaint after Russia defeat

The Egyptian Football Association (EFA) will formally protest to Fifa about the performance of Paraguay referee Enrique Caceres during their World Cup loss to Russia on Tuesday.

'We want an investigation into the performance of the whole refereeing team,' Egyptian Football Association president Hany Abo Rida told Reuters on Friday.

Egypt’s hopes of a place in the knockout stages ended with a 3-1 defeat to the hosts in St Petersburg.

"Lousy refereeing"

Abo Rida, who also holds a place in the Fifa Council, claims Egyptian fullback Ahmed Fathi was pushed in the process of attempting to clear the ball two minutes into the second half and resultantly directed it into his own net.

He also said there was a legitimate penalty appeal in the 78th minute for stiker Marwan Mohsen, who was pushed by Russian defender Ilya Kutepov.

‘The referee should have used VAR (the Video Assistant Referee system) to check and award the penalty. They should have also seen that Fathi had been pushed,’ Abo Rida claims.

‘It is our right to complain and ask for an investigation.’

Egypt will play their final 2018 World Cup game against Saudi Arabia, who have also been eliminated, in Volgograd on Monday.