FIFA rejects Argentina Olympic team’s lawsuit, coach Mascherano suddenly speaks out about Messi

According to TyC Sports, the International Football Federation (FIFA) has rejected the complaint of the Argentine Olympic team about the incident that occurred in the match against the Moroccan team on July 24. Therefore, no punishment was given.

Previously, after the match was postponed for more than 2 hours because fans invaded the field and the match was replayed for 3 minutes, the Argentine Olympic team had their equalizer goal in the 90+16 minute cancelled due to an offside error, causing them to lose to the Moroccan team with a score of 1-2. The Argentine Football Association (AFA) has sent a complaint to the FIFA Disciplinary Committee .

After the incident with the Moroccan team, the Argentine Olympic team regained momentum and beat the Iraqi team 3-1 on July 27.

AFA

“The Argentine delegation was subjected to violence, which was truly senseless and also suffered a violation of the Laws of the Game. Furthermore, the opinions of the captains of both teams, who believed that the match should not continue, were not listened to. From AFA, we have filed a complaint with the FIFA Disciplinary Committee, so that relevant administrative measures can be taken and sanctions imposed on those responsible,” said Claudio Tapia, President of AFA, in a statement on July 24, sending a complaint to the FIFA Disciplinary Committee.

FIFA therefore opened an investigation. However, on July 28, according to journalist Gaston Edul of TyC Sports channel: “FIFA responded to AFA that they rejected all complaints. Therefore, no punishment was given, despite the fact that the match’s security had many loopholes when fans repeatedly invaded the field. On the side of the Argentine Olympic team, they understood that they could not change the match result and only focused on the remaining 2 matches in the hope of winning to move on.”

The second round of Group B of the men’s football event at the Paris 2024 Olympics on July 27 took place with surprising results and led to a situation where the competition for the two tickets to the quarterfinals had to wait until the last round.

Specifically, the two teams that won the first round, Morocco and Iraq, both lost. Iraq lost to the Olympic Argentina team 1-3, while Morocco lost to the Ukrainian team 1-2. Therefore, all four teams have 3 points after 2 rounds. However, the Olympic Argentina team is temporarily ranked first in the group thanks to a better goal difference (+1), while the Ukrainian team is ranked second in the group due to a better head-to-head record against Morocco with the same points, goal difference of 3/3 and number of goals scored. Iraq is ranked last in the group because of a goal difference of -1.

The situation in Group B will be decided in the final round when the Olympic team Argentina meets Ukraine and Morocco meets Iraq at the same time at 10pm on July 30, to determine the two places in the quarterfinals.

Coach Mascherano (right) has regained joy and relief

TyC Sports

According to Argentina Olympic coach Mascherano: “There are two options, one is to focus on what happened or look forward. We focused on what we can control, which is playing football. It was a real relief (after the win against Iraq). Now, we will focus all on the remaining match (against Ukraine) and have to win. That is what we choose and no longer care about what happened, which caused many problems and arguments in recent days”.

“I also really thank Messi and the veteran members of the Argentina team, they always support, encourage and often send messages of encouragement to all players in the Olympic team. This has created a solidarity in the team, helping the young players to always be confident and move forward. Messi’s words of encouragement also show the players that they need to express themselves on the field, instead of worrying about incidents that cause distraction. We have overcome this difficulty, thanks to the timely mental support of Messi and other members of the team,” coach Mascherano expressed.