The Argentine Football Association has signalled it may have been the target of a cyber attack, after emails from its official accounts reportedly criticised refereeing in the national team’s dramatic 3-2 win against Egypt at the World Cup.
The reigning world champions looked set for a shock last-16 exit when they trailed Egypt 2-0 in Atlanta, but produced a remarkable late comeback to reach the quarter-finals. Cristian Romero halved the deficit 11 minutes from time, Lionel Messi equalised five minutes later, and Enzo Fernandez completed the turnaround two minutes into injury time – setting up a last-eight tie against Switzerland on Sunday.
“Argentine FA hit by suspected cyber attack after emails from its accounts criticised refereeing in the win over Egypt”
Following the defeat, the Egyptian Football Association asked Fifa to banish French referee Francois Letexier and his team of officials, alleging bias in favour of Argentina. Argentine news outlet La Calle reported emails sent from the AFA’s account to journalists after the match stated “Argentina did not win” and the result was a consequence of “corrupt refereeing decisions”.
La Calle said AFA sources indicated a group of Egyptian-origin hackers were behind the emails, which also praised Egypt’s performance. The AFA responded with a statement: “We want to inform you that we have detected the possible sending of emails from one of our institutional accounts that were not generated or authorised by our team.” It asked the public to “dismiss any message that you have recently received from our account and that is unusual, especially if it contains links, attachments or requests personal information”. “There is a possibility that our account has been subject to unauthorised access, so we are working to clarify what happened and adopt the necessary security measures,” the AFA added.
Egypt boss Hossam Hassan had earlier said his side was “treated unfairly” and “suffered injustice”. He added: “Perhaps they wanted to keep the world champion in the competition. Perhaps they wanted Messi to stay in the running. The world champion received support at every level. There seem to be pressures from the Argentina side on this outcome.”
Meanwhile, Argentina’s preparations for the Switzerland quarter-final have been hit by an injury concern. One defender was sent for scans after the dramatic victory over Egypt, according to reports. The identity of the player has not been disclosed, but the timing adds to the tension surrounding a team already dealing with off-field controversy. As Argentina look to extend their title defence, the cyber attack allegations and injury worries present twin challenges for Lionel Scaloni’s side.
