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Pierluigi Collina said such racist comments could threaten players and their families.
Published on 9 Jul 2026
FIFA president Pierluigi Collina has defended the player Argentina won 3-2 over Egypt in World Cup Section 16, rebutting allegations of bias is that the match officials acted independently.
In a interview published on the FIFA website on Thursday, Collina said criticizing players is part of football, but he criticized doubting the integrity of the officials after the complaint of Egypt the directors following defeat.
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“With so many matches played in such a short period of time, it’s normal that some things don’t go as expected,” Collina said. “When that happens, they (the players) are ready to work hard to make sure they are well prepared for the next game.
“Of course, useful discussion about elections will always be part of football, but nonsense has no place in our game.”
Collina said that such claims could threaten the players and their families.
“No one can question the integrity of the FIFA World Cup referees… In the same way, no one can say that a FIFA referee can be influenced by anyone, not even the FIFA President (Gianni Infantino),” he added.
“Sports officials make decisions with integrity and, like players and coaches, always strive to do their best.”
Egypt went out of the tournament but claimed they had been treated badly, with Argentina trailing 2-0 with 11 minutes to go through Enzo Fernandez.
Coach Hossam Hassan said after the game that there maybe it was the player’s pressure to keep Argentina in the tournament, and that Egypt was “fooled” out of the quarterfinals.
The Egyptian Football Association has also criticized the decisions of the referees, saying it will not remain silent on what it says is the inappropriate use of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR).
Egypt argued that Mostafa Zico’s second-half defeat was unfairly ruled out due to what he described as a lack of preparation. Egypt were also angered that Mohamed Salah’s challenge went unpunished minutes before Argentina kicked off which led to the win.
FIFA’s Collina said VAR had correctly ruled out Zico’s goal, after detecting a foul by Marwan Attia on Argentinian defender Lisandro Martinez during the shot.
“We believe pollution is a problem,” Collina said. “Regardless of whether the foul seems ‘obvious’, if the referee did not see it on the field of play, VAR can intervene.”
Collina also defended the decision not to give Egypt a penalty in the face of Argentina’s winner, saying that the referee and VAR considered Salah’s contact with Julian Alvarez to be “an ordinary football contact”.
“Stepping on the opponent’s foot is a big problem, while the defender who catches the ball first and then does not make a mistake,” he said.
Even admitting that some decisions always have an impact an object of subjectivityCollina said FIFA was satisfied with how the VAR principles were applied throughout the tournament.
