The Argentine Football Federation (AFA) has released an urgent statement after its systems were allegedly infiltrated by Egyptian hackers. The cyber attack resulted in mass emails being sent from AFA accounts, claiming Argentina's World Cup win over Egypt was 'snatched by corrupt refereeing decisions' and threatening further digital strikes unless 'justice' is served.
Details of the Cyber Attack
According to Argentine outlet La Calle, the hackers breached part of the federation's database, obtaining email addresses, passwords, IP addresses, and specialist form data. Emails dispatched from AFA addresses questioned the performance of French referee François Letexier, stating that 'Argentina did not win' and that the victory resulted from 'corrupt refereeing decisions.' The messages also praised Egypt's performance.
The emails were sent to accredited Argentine journalists, who received threats of additional cyber-attacks if 'justice' is not delivered regarding the World Cup referee controversy.
AFA's Official Response
The AFA quickly distanced itself from the emails, issuing a statement that 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 would like to inform you that... We ask that you disregard any messages you have recently received from our account that seem unusual.'
The statement continued: '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 cyber attack comes after a dramatic World Cup match where Argentina came from two goals down to defeat Egypt 3-2, with Lionel Messi scoring and assisting. Egypt's Mohamed Salah and his team had established a two-goal lead but were left furious over officiating decisions.
Ziko's potential second goal was disallowed due to an infringement in the build-up, while Salah was denied a penalty during the sequence that led to Enzo Fernandez's decisive strike. Egyptian manager Hossam Hassan and Mostafa Ziko voiced strong criticisms of the refereeing.
FIFA's Response to Allegations
FIFA's Chief Refereeing Officer, Pierluigi Collina, defended the match officials against the mounting criticism. He said: '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.'
