June 29 – After having all their various protests about the 2026 World Cup bid process rejected by FIFA, Morocco are crying foul again – this time over the way they were eliminated from the World Cup.
Moroccan Football Federation president Fouzi Lekjaa, still digesting the crushing defeat off the field by North America for 2026 hosting rights, has sent an official complaint to FIFA over what it said were a series of refereeing blunders in their group games in Russia against Portugal and Spain.
The federation said the “serious referee errors” led to their early exit and that the video assistant referee (VAR) had been used or not used in order to serve the interests of their opponents.
“We want to express our indignation at the injustice suffered by our national team, following serious refereeing errors that led to (the team’s) premature exit from the first round of the 2018 World Cup,” said the complaint to FIFA President Gianni Infantino.
Morocco were just minutes from securing a historic win over Spain – even though they were already out – only to be left utterly distraught by a VAR decision that went against them when Iago Aspas’ netted a dramatic equaliser in stoppage time.
Morocco’s Jordin Amrabat launched a scathing attack on officials straight after the game, turning to television cameras using the VAR sign used by referees and saying “VAR, it’s bull***t”.
Calling for the same guarantees of fairness for all the teams involved, Lekjaa’s letter added: “The severity of these refereeing errors is all the more evident in the fact that in these two matches (against Portugal and against Spain), the use of VAR served only to preserve the interests of our competitors.”
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