'VAR-gentina?': conspiracy theories swirl ahead of World Cup semi-finals

Atlanta: Lionel Messi's brilliance has helped carry Argentina into a blockbuster World Cup semi-final with England in Atlanta on Wednesday. moryak.biz

But the defending champions' journey to the last four has been engulfed by online conspiracy theories claiming -- without evidence -- that the playing field has been tilted in their favour.

Social media is awash with AI-generated videos and memes which amplify this narrative.

From contentious refereeing decisions to claims of being handed a kind draw to the final, AFP breaks down the main incidents which have given rise to the conspiracy

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theories:

Messi escapes red

In Argentina's group stage win over Algeria, with the South Americans leading 1-0, captain Lionel Messi raked his studs down the right calf and Achilles tendon of Algeria skipper Aissa Mandi in the 30th minute.

Polish referee Szymon Marciniak gave Algeria a free-kick but Messi received no further sanction and would go on to score a hat-trick.

Several pundits however were adamant that Messi had been guilty of serious foul play and under the letter of the law, should have been shown a red card that would have led to a suspension.

"It should have been a red card in my opinion," said ESPN pundit and former Manchester City defender Nedum Onuoha.

"Messi knew he did something that could have got him in trouble. I personally feel it is a red card."

Former Bundesliga referee Patrick Ittrich agreed: "For me, that is a red card. We have various examples from the Bundesliga where that was punished with a red. By the letter of the law, that is a red. If I had seen it like that on the pitch, I would have shown red."

Algeria's football federation subsequently filed an official complaint to FIFA over "refereeing injustice" in the game.

Egypt cry foul

Argentina produced one of the all-time great comebacks to keep their World Cup campaign alive in the last 16 against Egypt, recovering from a 2-0 deficit to win 3-2 and reach the quarter-finals.

But Egypt's players and coaching staff were outraged by several decisions by French referee Francois Letexier that went in Argentina's favour at key moments.

The biggest post-game talking point surrounded a goal scored by Egypt in the second half which was disallowed after an intervention by the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), who had spotted a foul on an Argentina player several phases before Egypt's Mostafa Zico put the ball in the net, at the other end of the pitch.

Several analysts questioned whether VAR had overstepped its reach.

"VAR was looking at something too deeply and looking for something that has happened in the game to try to cancel the Egypt goal," former FIFA referee Mark Clattenburg said.

Egyptian coach Hossam Hassan also claimed that Egypt should have been awarded a penalty in the build-up to Enzo Fernandez's late winner for Argentina.
"There seems to have been pressure on the Argentinian side on the referee that has brought about this outcome," Hassan said.

"Perhaps they wanted to keep the world champions in the competition?" he told BeIn Sports.

"Perhaps they wanted Messi to stay in the running? In football, there are sometimes external factors that go beyond the technical aspects."

FIFA referees' chief Pierluigi Collina rejected the Egyptian allegations as "unfounded".

Pivotal VAR call

Another pivotal VAR call helped shape the outcome of Argentina's 3-1 extra-time quarter-final win over Switzerland on in Kansas City on Saturday.

In the 70th minute, referee Joao Pinheiro gave Argentina's Leandro Paredes a yellow card for a foul on Breel Embolo, shortly after Switzerland had equalised at 1-1 and were dominating the weary world champions.

However a VAR intervention using FIFA's new mistaken identity rule determined that Embolo had initiated the foul in an act of simulation and the call was overturned.

Yet because Embolo had already received a yellow card, he was shown a red and sent off -- leaving Switzerland down to 10-men and halting their momentum.

Argentina would on to secure victory in extra-time.

"We were punished because of a rule that, in my opinion, is completely unacceptable," Swiss coach Murat Yakin said afterwards.

Many commentators though point out that Embolo was rightly punished for a clear dive.

"If you want to argue FIFA is rigging the World Cup for Lionel Messi and Argentina, and some of you are hellbent on doing just that, you're going to have to do better than this," wrote USA Today columnist Nancy Armour.

A kind draw?

Critics of Argentina's run to the semi-finals cite the ranking of their opponents as evidence of favouritism by FIFA.

So far Argentina has not had to face a team ranked higher than 19th in the world heading into their clash with England on Wednesday. After topping a group that included Algeria, Jordan and Austria, Argentina's knockout round opponents were Cape Verde, Egypt and Switzerland.

But this is due in in large part to FIFA's decision to seed the top four teams in the world in such a way that would keep them apart until the semi-finals.

England have not faced a team ranked in the top 10 so far while France did have to play seventh-ranked Morocco in the quarter-finals.

Spain have had the hardest route to the semi-finals, needing to beat fifth-ranked Portugal and Belgium (ninth) on their way to the last four.

Zamalek defender Hossam Abdelmaguid has agreed to join Bulgarian club Ludogorets on a three-year contract after his departure was approved.

Zamalek defender Hossam Abdelmaguid has agreed to join Bulgarian club Ludogorets on a three-year contract, his agent and brother, Islam Abdelmaguid, said on Friday.

Islam Abdelmaguid said the 25-year-old had completed negotiations with Ludogorets after Zamalek approved his departure and would join the Bulgarian side for the new season.

The two clubs have reportedly agreed on a transfer fee of €1.5 million.

The agreement includes a further €250,000 payment linked to Ludogorets’ participation in European competition and €300,000 if the club reaches the UEFA Champions League.

Zamalek will also receive 20% of the profit from a future sale if Ludogorets sell Abdelmaguid for more than €4 million.

However, neither Zamalek nor Ludogorets had formally announced the transfer yet.

The defender had previously rejected interest from Gulf clubs because he preferred to continue his career in Europe.

Abdelmaguid came through Zamalek’s academy and made his first-team debut in 2020. He helped the club win two Egyptian Premier League titles, two Egypt Cups, the CAF Confederation Cup, and the CAF Super Cup.

He was also part of the Egypt squad at the World Cup, scoring the winning penalty against Australia in the round of 32, taking them to the round of 16, the country’s deepest run in the tournament.

The post Hossam Abdelmaguid Set to Depart Zamalek for Ludogorets appeared first on KingFut.

ما قام به العميد شجاعة هزت أعداء الحرية

رفع العلم الفلسطيني في قلب أمريكا لمسة وفاء

المدرب المصري «أيقونة» وإنجاز الفراعنة أسعد الجميع

لا مقارنة بين مونديال 2022 و2026.. والدوحة عنوان التميز



أكد اللواء جبريل الرجوب رئيس الاتحاد الفلسطيني لكرة القدم أن المشهد الذي خطف أنظار العالم برفع حسام حسن علم فلسطين عقب قيادة المنتخب المصري للتأهل إلى الدور ثمن النهائي من كأس العالم 2026، بالفوز على أستراليا حمل رسائل إنسانية ووطنية عميقة، تعكس الموقف المصري التاريخي الداعم للقضية الفلسطينية، وشدد على أن هذه اللفتة لم تكن مجرد احتفال بانتصار كروي، وإنما تأكيد جديد على مكانة فلسطين والقدس في وجدان الشعب المصري، قبل أن يشيد بالإنجاز التاريخي الذي حققه المنتخب المصري، ويؤكد أن ما تحقق يمثل مصدر فخر لكل الجماهير العربية.وقال الرجوب «رفع الكابتن حسام حسن لعلم فلسطين في قلب الولايات المتحدة لم يكن مجرد مشهد احتفالي، بل رسالة سياسية وإنسانية ووطنية بامتياز، تؤكد أن فلسطين والقدس تحتلان مكانة ثابتة وراسخة في وعي ووجدان كل المصريين، وأن القضية الفلسطينية ستظل حاضرة مهما تغيرت الظروف».
وتابع قائلاً «ما قام به حسام حسن شكَّل رسالة قوية لكل أعداء الحرية في تل أبيب ولكل من يقدم لهم الرعاية والدعم، وأثبت أن الرياضة تستطيع أن تحمل رسائل نبيلة تتجاوز حدود المنافسة داخل الملعب، لذلك أوجه له كل التحية والتقدير، كما أتقدم بالتحية إلى مصر قيادةً وشعباً على مواقفها التاريخية الداعمة للقضية الفلسطينية، فهي كانت وما زالت الركيزة الإستراتيجية لفلسطين ولقضيتها العادلة».
وأضاف «حسام حسن أيقونة عربية بكل ما تحمله الكلمة من معنى، وما حققه بقيادة المنتخب المصري بالتأهل إلى الدور ثمن النهائي من كأس العالم إنجاز عظيم لمصر ولكل الأمة العربية. لقد رسم الفرحة على وجوه ملايين المصريين والعرب، وأكد أن الكرة العربية قادرة على الحضور والمنافسة عندما تتوفر الإرادة والروح القتالية، وأتمنى أن يستمر المنتخب المصري في التفوق والنجاح في هذا المونديال وأن يسير في تحقيق النتائج الرائعة التي حققها مع المدرب منذ المباراة الأولى، ونحن بالتأكيد نشعر بالفخر والسعادة عما يحققه المنتخب المصري». وعن المقارنة بين مونديال قطر 2022 والنسخة الحالية من كأس العالم 2026، قال الرجوب «لا يوجد أي وجه للمقارنة بين البطولتين. ما قدمته قطر في نسخة 2022 سيظل نموذجاً استثنائياً في تاريخ كأس العالم، سواء من حيث التنظيم أو الإدارة أو البنية التحتية أو الأجواء الجماهيرية، وكانت بطولة متكاملة بشهادة العالم أجمع، فقطر كسبت الرهان في النسخة الماضية وقدمت بطولة عالمية بكل صراحة ستظل عالقة في الأذهان».
واختتم تصريحاته قائلاً «أما النسخة الحالية فقد شهدت حالة من الفوضى والارتباك، إلى جانب تجاوزات في التزامات الدولة المضيفة، ومنها منع إصدار التأشيرات لعدد من الأشخاص، وهو أمر لا يليق بدولة تستضيف أكبر بطولة كروية في العالم. لذلك أرى أن مونديال قطر سيبقى الأفضل في تاريخ البطولة، بينما تعد النسخة الحالية من أسوأ النسخ على مستوى التنظيم».

أعرب الاتحاد الأسترالي لكرة القدم عن دعمه للمدرب توني بوبوفيتش رغم تعرض بوبوفيتش لانتقادات من بعض نجوم أستراليا السابقين، وقال الرئيس التنفيذي للاتحاد الأسترالي مارتن كوغيلر لوسائل إعلام أسترالية في دالاس «سيفكر كل مشجع بما كان يمكن فعله بشكل أفضل»، مضيفا «لكن الجهاز الفني وتوني بوبوفيتش دائما في الموقع الأفضل لتقدير ما يحتاجه الفريق في تلك اللحظة».
وتابع «بعد فوات الأوان، يكون الجميع دائما أدرى بالأمور، لكن عليك اتخاذ القرارات في حينها بناء على ما شاهدته في التدريبات وما لمسته من اللاعبين». وختم «لذا، يحظى توني بوبوفيتش بثقتنا الكاملة».