Egypt Coach Hassan Explains "X" Gesture: Not racism accusation, but referee protest

According to Argentine media outlet La Capital, Egypt's head coach Hossam Hassan explained the controversial "X" gesture made after the FIFA World Cup Round of 16 match against Argentina during an interview. He stated that it was not an accusation of discriminatory behavior by the players, but rather dissatisfaction with the officiating of referee François Letexier.

After Argentina's 3-2 comeback victory over Egypt, Hassan was seen on the sidelines raising his arms to form an "X". According to relevant rules, this action usually triggers anti-discrimination procedures, which quickly led to speculation.

A week later, Hassan clarified: "This gesture was not due to racism. I was telling the referee, 'You are not fair.'"

In this match, Egypt was leading 2-0 with less than 15 minutes left, but was then eliminated after Argentina scored three consecutive goals to turn the game around. The Egyptian coaching staff and bench were very dissatisfied with the French referees, especially when they were leading 1-0, Egypt had a goal disallowed due to a foul on Lisandro Martínez earlier.

A few minutes later, Enzo Fernández scored a header to give Argentina the lead, and Egypt protested again. Broadcast cameras captured Hassan raising his arms to make an "X" gesture, but the referee ultimately only showed him a yellow card for protesting.

Hassan stated that no Argentine players had displayed discriminatory behavior towards the Egyptian side during the match, and his dissatisfaction was entirely directed at the referee.

He also revealed that he had an argument with Messi: "He walked towards me and said, 'Why? Why? Why?' and some other words I didn't understand. This was one of the few times Messi was involved in an argument during a match. He ended up crying because it was emotionally difficult at the time."

Hassan concluded by saying: "Egypt is a very tough team, and we caused them a lot of trouble. I tried not to respond to him and avoided any verbal conflict between us, out of respect for his career."