Egypt (Sports Desk): After Egypt's dramatic 2-3 defeat against Argentina in the FIFA World Cup Round of 16, Egyptian forward Mostafa Ziko accused the tournament of being fixed and strongly criticized the match officials.
Mostafa Ziko claimed that the direction of the tournament was being influenced in favor of defending champions Argentina and that the referee's conduct during the match was against Egypt.
Egypt made a strong start to the contest and held a 0-2 lead until the final stages of the second half. However, Argentina, led by Lionel Messi, made a remarkable comeback by scoring three consecutive goals and secured a place in the quarter-finals.
Speaking to the media after the match, Mostafa Ziko said that the referee's decisions appeared to be against Egypt from the beginning.
He said that the referee had wasted the hard work of an entire nation and that clear injustice had taken place.
Mostafa Ziko further claimed that it seemed as if the tournament had already been arranged in favor of a specific team. However, these allegations have not been independently verified.