The Argentine Football Federation (AFA) has issued a furious statement after reporting that Egyptian-origin hackers infiltrated their systems and sent mass emails accusing Argentina of benefiting from corrupt refereeing in their dramatic World Cup win over Egypt.
Cyber Attack Details
According to Argentinian outlet La Calle, the hackers breached part of the AFA's database, obtaining email addresses, passwords, IP addresses, and specialised form information. They then sent emails from official AFA addresses to accredited Argentinian media, questioning the performance of French referee Francois Letexier. The emails stated that "Argentina did not win" and that the victory resulted from "corrupt refereeing decisions," while praising Egypt's performance. Reporters also received threats of further cyber-attacks if 'justice' wasn't served.
AFA's Response
The AFA released a statement urging recipients to disregard any unusual emails from their accounts. It read: "Dear colleagues, we would like to inform you that we have detected the possible sending of emails from one of our institutional accounts that were neither generated nor authorised by our team. Given this situation, and while we conduct the corresponding verifications with the IT department, we ask that you disregard any messages you have recently received from our account that seem unusual. There is a possibility that our account has been the subject of unauthorised access, so we are working to clarify what happened and take the necessary security measures. Our systems have the corresponding security and safeguards in place. Thank you very much for your attention and cooperation."
Match Controversy
The controversy stems from Argentina's 3-2 comeback win, where Lionel Messi inspired a second-half fightback after Egypt took a two-goal lead. Egypt were aggrieved by refereeing decisions: Ziko's would-be second goal was ruled out due to a foul in the build-up, and Mohamed Salah was denied a penalty in the play that led to Enzo Fernandez's winner. The emails echoed complaints from coach Hossam Hassan and Mostafa Ziko.
FIFA's Defense
FIFA's Chief Refereeing Officer, Pierluigi Collina, defended the match officials, stating: "Constructive discussion about decisions will always be part of football, but unfounded allegations have no place in our sport. Nobody can question the integrity of the FIFA World Cup match officials."
