🚨🇦🇷🇪🇬 Rio Ferdinand: “Football Needs Fairness, Not Different Rules For Different Teams”
🗣️ “I’ve sat here and watched football for many years, both as a player and as a pundit, and what frustrates supporters the most is inconsistency.
When Argentina go down under a challenge, the whistle seems to come immediately. The officials are quick to spot the foul, quick to stop play and quick to protect them. But when Egypt are on the receiving end of similar incidents, suddenly the game is allowed to continue and everyone is told to move on.
That’s the issue people have tonight. Not the result itself, but the lack of consistency in the decision-making.
Then you look at the build-up to Enzo Fernández’s winning goal. Egypt were screaming for a foul, their players were surrounding the referee, and millions watching expected VAR to at least take a proper look at it. Instead, it felt like everyone in the VAR room had gone to sleep.
What exactly is VAR there for if not to review the biggest moments in the biggest matches?
If that incident happened against Argentina at the other end of the pitch, do you honestly believe it wouldn’t have been checked? I find that very difficult to believe. We’ve seen much softer incidents reviewed throughout this tournament.
That’s where the frustration comes from. Fans just want the same standard applied to every team.
And let’s talk about the disciplinary side of the game. Argentina seem to get away with an awful lot. There are challenges that would normally bring yellow cards, yet the referee appears reluctant to reach for his pocket. It’s almost as if officials are afraid of making decisions that might upset Argentina.
When you look at some of Argentina’s matches in this tournament, there have been several moments where opponents felt hard done by. One incident can be debated, two incidents can be debated, but eventually people start noticing a pattern.
Football cannot afford that perception. The integrity of the game depends on supporters believing that every nation is treated equally.
Whether you’re Argentina, Egypt, Brazil, France or anyone else, the laws of the game should not change depending on the badge on your shirt.
The officials tonight had a responsibility to be fair, balanced and brave. Instead, they have left millions of people questioning why some decisions are given so easily for one side while similar incidents involving the other side are ignored.
Football deserves better than that. The players deserve better than that. And the fans certainly deserve better than that.”
#ARGEGY
Watch this to understand how Egypt was cheated 🇪🇬🇦🇷
These clips show how the ref rigged the game.
The ref gave Messi a penalty "without a second of hesitation" and granted VAR to reverse Egypts goal without any debate.
For Egypt, he gave red cards for demanding a VAR.
Reporter: Can you describe your phone call with Gianni Infantino about the red card? Belgium is appealing the decision.
Trump: You’re asking me about the whole soccer thing. So, yeah, I did. I spoke to Gianni.
That wasn’t a foul. That wasn’t even an infraction. That was two guys running full speed who happened to crash into each other. You can’t properly place your foot on somebody else’s foot when you’re going full speed. No, these were two great athletes who got tangled up.
And this referee, who is a little bit suspect—if you check his past. I don’t want to say that because I don’t like to create controversy, but very suspect. If you’d like, I’ll provide you with his past.
He didn’t do anything wrong, and he’s our best player, or one of our best players—a very vital player—and they gave him a red card.
I didn’t know what that meant. I didn’t think it meant much. Then I started hearing that it means you can’t play in the next game, at least in the next game.
I said, “Boy, that’s a big—” You know, if it happened to another player, it would have been unfair, but when they take your best player—or just about; they have some great players—and say you can’t play, that’s very unfair.
That’s one thing, to penalize somebody for the game. But how do you penalize them for a game that hasn’t been played yet? It’s very unfair. You can’t do that.
So, yes, I asked for a review by FIFA. I spoke to a man who is highly respected, and by the way, whose level of respect has gone up tenfold.
#1
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