Algeria complain to FIFA about refereeing in loss to Argentina

Algeria have lodged a complaint about alleged poor refereeing ⁠during their 3-0 World Cup defeat ⁠by Argentina this week, a source with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Friday. Algeria sent a letter to FIFA's refereeing commission, with particular reference to the first-half incident when Argentina's Lionel ⁠Messi stood on the calf of Algeria captain Aissa Mandi.

Algeria supporters screamed for Messi to be sent off as he caught Mandi from behind flush on the calf with a raised boot, but the forward was not punished and went on to score a hat-trick. Algeria also allege an elbow from Argentina midfielder Alexis Mac Allister in the face of Ibrahim Maza in the second half of the Group J clash in Kansas City went unpunished by Poland's Szymon Marciniak.

The experienced referee, who was in charge of the 2022 World Cup final in ⁠Qatar ⁠in which Argentina beat France on penalties, was within a meter of the incident when Mac Allister appeared to body-check Maza with a raised elbow.

RAISES QUESTIONS

Algeria's complaint raises questions about Marciniak's performance and that of his VAR team, led by compatriot Tomasz Kwiatkowski.

The Messi incident caused a social media storm with fans debating whether his star status played any part in a lack of punishment. It was also referenced by South Africa coach Hugo Broos when he ⁠was asked on Wednesday to react to his midfielder Themba Zwane having his ban at the World Cup extended to three matches after a red card in the opening game against Mexico.

"When I see what happened with Messi, I don't agree, certainly not, with what happened to my player. When you see the situation, the Mexican player blocked my player, and Themba tried to get over him, and he put ⁠his arm ‌over his ‌shoulder. That's all he does," said Broos.

"And you get a ⁠red card for that and then a three-game ‌suspension? Sorry, but this is much, much, much too severe. I don't want that Messi gets a red card, because a player ⁠of that quality has to be on the pitch ⁠as you saw (against Algeria), but what was the difference between that and Zwane?" ⁠the coach asked.

Argentina face Austria in Dallas on Monday and Algeria meet Jordan in San Francisco.