FIFA suspends Egypt coach Hossam Hassan and striker Mostafa Ziko

FIFA has handed suspensions to members of Egypt's national team after public criticism of the refereeing in their World Cup round-of-16 defeat to Argentina. Coach Hossam Hassan received a three-match ban from leading the team and striker Mostafa Ziko was suspended for five matches.

Disciplinary sanctions and reasoning

The sanctions follow outspoken comments by both men after Egypt lost 2-3 to Argentina. FIFA’s disciplinary authorities said the remarks crossed a line by questioning the integrity of match officials and could expose referees and their families to threats.

FIFA’s chief referee, Pierluigi Collina, defended the performance of the officials and warned that public accusations risked intimidation of match officials. The governing body also noted specific incidents from the game: Ziko had a goal disallowed for an alleged offence at the start of play, and Egypt appealed for a penalty in the final minutes while the score was 2-2.

Hassan had publicly blamed refereeing decisions for his team's exit. In English translation he said: "Today we were cheated, we were treated unjustly. Maybe they wanted to keep the world champions in the competition. Maybe they wanted Messi to stay in the race for the title," said the Egyptian coach.

Ziko was harsher in his post-match remarks. In English translation he said: "The referee was unfair. He committed an obvious injustice and destroyed the efforts of the whole country. From the start of the match he was biased towards Argentina. The tournament was fixed in their favor," said the striker.

FIFA imposed the bans as part of disciplinary procedures that seek to deter public attacks on match officials. The measures bar Hassan from occupying the technical area for three national-team matches and prevent Ziko from participating in five competitive fixtures for Egypt.

Photo: FIFA World Cup Stats @alimo_philip (X)