Algeria has filed a complaint with FIFA over what they call a "refereeing injustice" in their first World Cup match against Argentina. This complaint focuses on a tackle made by Lionel Messi, according to a source from the Algerian football federation who spoke to AFP on Friday.
In the 30th minute of Tuesday’s match, Messi tackled Algeria defender Aissa Mandi from behind, hitting his calf with his studs. Despite the foul, Messi was not shown a yellow card.
Messi, who has won the Ballon d’Or eight times, had already given Argentina the lead and ended up scoring a hat-trick in the match.
“The complaint mainly focuses on Messi’s challenge, which everyone agrees should have resulted in a red card,” the federation source said.
“There were also two elbow incidents. Both should have led to red cards.”
Algeria's next match is against Jordan on Monday. They will finish their group stage against Austria on Saturday, June 27.
“We are not saying that the Argentine team was weak, but we cannot stay quiet in the face of injustice,” the source added when asked why Algeria made the complaint.
“There were three clear incidents, and VAR did not step in.”
Messi’s three goals helped him equal the all-time World Cup scoring record held by former Germany striker Miroslav Klose, which stands at 16 goals.
Algeria is aiming to reach the knockout stage of the World Cup for only the second time. Their last appearance was in 2014, when they lost to Germany in extra time during the round of 16.
Drop your comment
No comments yet — be the first to drop the gist 👇