Morocco Football Federation FRMF has filed an official protest to FIFA regarding the refereeing of the France-Morocco match, especially following the two penalties not whistled for Morocco in the first half.

On Wednesday evening, Morocco was eliminated from the 2022 World Cup at the gates of the final, losing to the France team 2-0.

This fairly interesting semi-final on paper, on the other hand, caused a lot of talk on social networks, particularly because of the refereeing .

The Mexican referee of the meeting Cesar Ramos was at the center of the debates since he had several times rather incomprehensible decisions. And several facts of the game made both French supporters and Moroccan supporters speak.

One of the first highly contentious actions took place in the first half. After a slip in his own surface, Théo Hernandez thus literally mows down Sofiane Boufal. If some Moroccan fans were expecting a penalty, this was not the case for Mr. Ramos who decided to whistle against France and give Sofiane Boufal a rather severe yellow card. Despite this error, he was not challenged by the VAR on this action either. A decision that does not pass for the FRMF (Royal Moroccan Football Federation).

According to our information, the FRMF has simply decided to file an official challenge with FIFA in relation to the arbitration of this semi-final. “A protest which follows the two penalties not whistled for Morocco in the first period” , thus confides to us a source within the FRMF. The second penalty in question concerns Selim Amallah. The midfielder of Standard de Liège collapsed in the area on a set piece without the referee whistling anything.

This claim, like all claims after arbitration decisions, has very little chance of succeeding, especially in a very short time since France faces Argentina in the World Cup final this Sunday. The referee of the match, who also responded to the many Moroccan supporters on his Instagram account , also had questionable decisions on the Moroccan side with the absence of a card after borderline interventions by Achraf Dari, for example.

In a press release published on Thursday, the FRMF confirms that it has filed a complaint.

“The Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) strongly protested against the arbitration of the Morocco-France match officiated by Mr. Cesar Arturo Ramos. To this end, the FRMF sent a letter to the competent body in which it returns to the arbitration situations which deprived the Moroccan selection of two indisputable penalties in the opinion of several arbitration specialists.

“The FRMF also expressed its great astonishment that the Video Assistance to Arbitration (VAR) system did not react to these arbitration situations. The FRMF recalls that it will spare no effort to defend and preserve the rights of the National Selections by advocating fairness in arbitration and by denouncing these arbitration decisions taken during this semi-final confrontation of the World Cup. of FIFA Qatar 2022.”

Kelvin Trudeau Musako

Football Journalist | TotalEnergies AFCON 2021 Photographer | Media Officer - Kabwe Warriors FC | Graphic Designer | Videographer