Egypt’s coach finally shares what the ‘X’ sign he made during the World Cup loss to Argentina really means.
Egypt’s manager has finally explained why he made an ‘X’ gesture during his team’s 3-2 loss to Argentina in the World Cup round of 16 match.
Hossam Hassan caught everyone’s attention when he crossed his arms in an ‘X’ toward referee Francois Letexier in the 98th minute.
Egypt had a 2-0 lead, but Argentina, the world champions, came back with goals from Cristian Romero, Lionel Messi, and Enzo Fernandez in an incredible 13-minute stretch.
Egypt felt the refereeing was unfair, especially when a goal by Mostafa Ziko was canceled. They also protested what they thought was a foul on Mo Salah just before Fernandez’s 93rd-minute goal.
Messi was involved in the tense last moments of the game as well.
The ‘X’ gesture usually signals racist abuse and was seen in a Champions League game between Benfica and Real Madrid earlier this year.
On the Egypt bench, emotions ran high. Hassan made the ‘X’ gesture, but his assistant and twin brother Ibrahim soon lowered his arms.
More than a week after the tough defeat, Hassan explained what he really meant by the gesture and what happened when Messi talked to him.
According to The Sun, he said: “The gesture wasn’t about racism. I was telling the ref, ‘you’re not being fair.’
“Messi came up and asked me, ‘Why? Why?’ and I didn’t have much to say.
“It was one of the few times Messi argued during a game. He even got emotional and cried because it was hard for him.
“We were a strong team, and we made it tough for them. I tried not to argue back out of respect for his great career.”
Feeling wronged, the Egyptian FA released a strong statement demanding FIFA remove the officials from the tournament, calling their mistakes “blatant” and saying they refused to review some of the footage.
After complaints that Argentina got special treatment, FIFA’s referee boss Pierluigi Collina defended the officials and called the accusations “unfounded.”
Hassan hasn’t been punished yet for his actions or comments, including saying that pressure from Argentina before the match affected the referee. He even suggested Argentina wanted to keep the world champion and Messi in the competition.
FIFA responded but might still take action later.
According to The Athletic, FIFA will wait until the tournament ends before penalizing anyone for damaging the game’s reputation, as happened after the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Hassan and player Ziko could face sanctions, along with others like Switzerland defender Manuel Akanji and England coach Thomas Tuchel, who also criticized referees publicly.