After Morocco’s defeat in Wednesday’s World Cup semi-final by France, Morocco’s football federation has filed a protest with Fifa regarding the refereeing of the match in Qatar.
“The Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) strongly protested against the arbitration of the Morocco-France match officiated by Mr. Cesar Arturo Ramos”, says the official statement.
The FRMF says it has sent a letter to Fifa regarding two indisputable penalties. The statement adds:
“The FRMF also expressed its great astonishment that the Video Assistance to Arbitration (VAR) system did not react to these… situations.”
The football federation says it will spare no effort to defend and preserve the rights of the National Selections, by advocating fairness, and by denouncing the decisions taken during the semi-final of the World Cup.
According to a report from Stats Perform, Morocco lost Wednesday’s game by 2-0 after goals from Theo Hernandez and Randal Kolo Muani sent reigning champions France through to a second consecutive World Cup final.
Moroccan Federation officials are protesting against the obstruction of striker Sofiane Boufal inside the box by the defender Theo Hernadez, and instead of awarding Morocco a penalty, a yellow card was awarded to the French striker. The second case concerned Aurelien Tchouameni catching midfielder Salim Amalah inside the area, following a corner kick.
However, there were a number of contentious decisions during the match, with Morocco’s players first incensed when winger Sofiane Boufal collided with Hernandez in the France box.
The referee opted to award Les Bleus a free-kick instead of a penalty for Morocco, after which Boufal was booked, which provoked a furious reaction from Walid Regragui’s men.
