By Samuel Akpan
Egypt head coach Hossam Hassan and forward Mostafa Zico have been hit with multi-match bans after publicly attacking the referee following their World Cup round-of-16 exit to Argentina.
FIFA’s Disciplinary Committee bad imposed a three-match suspension on Hassan and a five-match ban on Zico, the Egyptian Football Association said in a Monday statement.
Hassan’s twin brother Ibrahim, the national team manager, also received a three-match suspension.
The EFA has requested the detailed reasons behind the decisions and is preparing an appeal once it reviews the legal basis of the punishments.
The bans could sideline both Hassan brothers from Egypt’s November Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers against Malawi and the opening fixture of the March window, while Zico will remain unavailable until June.
Egypt were eliminated on July 6 in Atlanta after Argentina overturned a 2-0 deficit. A Zico goal was chalked off for a foul on Lisandro Martinez while Egypt led 1-0; he later restored the two-goal advantage before Cristian Romero and Lionel Messi, whose first-half penalty was saved, levelled the score.
Enzo Fernandez then scored the winner, with Egypt insisting a pull by Alexis Mac Allister on Hamdy Fathy should have been a penalty.
In his post-match press conference, Hassan declared his side had been “cheated unfairly” and suffered “injustice,” refusing to blame hard luck for missing the quarter-finals.
He further charged that “there has not been respect or fair play,” claiming a penalty was ignored without VAR review and a second goal was wrongly disallowed despite clear footage of a shirt being pulled.
FIFA refereeing chief Pierluigi Collina defended the officials, warning that such claims risk inciting threats against referees and their families.
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