FIFA punishes Hossam, Ibrahim Hassan and Zico after statements against the refereeing in the Argentina-Egypt match

The Egyptian Football Association announced that it had received a notification from the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) regarding the sanctions imposed on the national team’s technical director, Hossam Hassan, and the national team’s director, Ibrahim Hassan, in addition to the player, Mostafa Abdel Raouf “Zico.”

The Disciplinary Committee decided to suspend Hossam Hassan and Ibrahim Hassan for three matches each, while Zico received the most severe punishment by suspending him for five matches, due to statements after the confrontation with Egypt and Argentina.

Post-Argentina statements

The case goes back to what followed the Egyptian team's 3-2 loss to Argentina in the round of 16 of the 2026 World Cup, when the trio criticized French referee François Letxer and accused him of deliberately causing the defeat of the descendants of the "Pharaohs." Mustafa Zico's statements became famous on social media, also due to the player's funny speech in English.

In light of the statements of the brothers Hassan and Zico against arbitration, FIFA opened disciplinary procedures against them last August, before now announcing its final decisions.

The Egyptian Federation is moving

The Egyptian Federation was not satisfied with receiving the penalties, but was quick to submit an urgent grievance to the FIFA Disciplinary Committee, requesting to obtain the detailed merits and reasons for the decisions in preparation for studying the possibility of resuming them.

Impressive absences in the African qualifiers

Under the sanctions, Hossam Hassan and Ibrahim Hassan will miss the team’s next three matches against Malawi and Angola in the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifiers.