Moroccan Football Federation protest to FIFA over Morocco-France game arbitration
The World Cup semifinal match between Morocco and France was arbitrated, and the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) made the decision to challenge that decision.
The FRMF “seriously condemned the arbitration of the Moroccan national team match versus the French national team, chaired by Cesar Arturo Ramos Palazuelos,” according to a statement released today.
The federation informed FIFA of the “mistakes” made by the referees, claiming that “the arbitration refused two obvious penalty kicks for the Moroccan national team, according to the evidence of refereeing professionals,” which ultimately reduced the Atlas lions’ chances of winning the match.
The FRMF also expressed disappointment that the apparent error in judgment during Wednesday’s game was not flagged by the VAR room.
The Moroccan football governing body stated, “The Royal Moroccan Football Federation confirms that it will not be reluctant to protect the rights of our squad, appealing for fairness in taking the required actions regarding the arbitral injustice perpetrated on the Moroccan national team.”
The Moroccan public’s criticism of Mexican Referee Cesar Ramos’ performance throughout the game was reflected in the federation’s statement.
The majority of Moroccans believed that Boufal and Hernandez’s tussle in the box, which resulted in a foul call against the Frenchman, merited a penalty.
Instead, Ramos issued the Moroccan player a yellow card for the box altercation.
Following a social media outrage from Moroccans over what they claimed was a misjudgment, Ramos posted on Instagram on Thursday that he was satisfied with his choice and urged Moroccans to complain to FIFA.
“My friends the Moroccan people. Be patient, please. If you are not satisfied with the match, you can submit a collective objection via the FIFA website and the match can be replayed,” he wrote
As FIFA has not yet commented on the situation, the Atlas lions’ followers are actually posting complaints in massive numbers on the organization’s website.
Football professionals and notable individuals from countries other than Morocco were astounded by what they called “an obvious refereeing mistake.”
There was a foul for Rio Ferdinand, a football expert on English television.
“I believe that was a penalty. You would call a foul at any other location on the field. So why isn’t it a penalty? It’s certainly not a yellow card for Boufal,” he protested.
According to Jamal Al-Ghandour, a refereeing specialist for beIN Sports, Theo Hernandez fell by himself and knocked Soufiane Boufal down with his momentum.
Al-Ghandour explains, “There is a penalty not whistled for Morocco.”
The similar observation was made by Pérez Burrull. Theo slipped inside the area, the former Spanish referee informed Radio MARCA: “It’s a muddled action, but I perceive that Theo Hernandez committed a foul on the Moroccan player. Theo stumbled inside the area and brought him down.”
Iker Casillas, former Real Madrid goalkeeper shared a photo of Hernandez’s intervention, tweeting: “an action worthy of opinion. Penalty or not Penalty?”