The Argentine Football Association will file a complaint with FIFA regarding the situation involving Messi and Mac Allister.
The Algerian Football Federation has sent an official complaint to FIFA, strongly protesting the decisions of Polish referee Szymon Marciniak after their 0:3 defeat against the Argentina national team in the opening match of the World Cup group stage. This was reported by Zamin.uz.
According to Goal.com, the main objections are directed at rough incidents involving Lionel Messi and Alexis Mac Allister. According to The Athletic, the Algerian side specifically highlighted a situation that occurred in the 30th minute of the match.
In that incident, Argentina's captain Lionel Messi made a dangerous move with the bottom of his boot during a collision with opposing defender Aissa Mandi. The Algerian Federation believes that Messi should have been sent off in this situation.
Additionally, the complaint includes an episode involving midfielder Alexis Mac Allister. It is reported that he struck Algerian Ibrahim Maza with his elbow during a collision, but no disciplinary action was taken by the referee.
The Algerian side claims that such incidents directly influenced the outcome of the game. Algeria's head coach Vladimir Petkovic commented on the situation, not hiding his dissatisfaction with the officiating.
There is no point in discussing hypothetical situations, but everyone saw everything, including me, the specialist emphasized. According to sources within the federation, the team is deeply offended that the safety of its players on the field was not ensured.
Amidst these disputes, the match held historical significance for Lionel Messi. He played his 200th match for Argentina and scored a hat-trick.
With these goals, Messi broke the record of 16 goals set by Miroslav Klose for the most goals in the history of World Cups. However, the opposing team's protests cast a slight shadow over this celebratory evening.
So far, FIFA and other official football organizations have not issued a statement regarding Algeria's complaint. The reigning world champions continue their preparations for the next matches.
Argentina will face the national teams of Austria and Jordan in the next stages of the group stage. Lionel Scaloni's pupils are required to maintain a balance between discipline and aggression to resolve the play-off issue early.
Source: Goal.com
