AFA emails to jounalists add new twist to Argentina-Egypt WC match controversy

The controversy surrounding Argentina's dramatic World Cup last-16 victory over Egypt has taken another dramatic turn after a series of emails, purportedly sent from the Argentine Football Association (AFA), claimed that Argentina "didn't win" the match and blamed the result on "corrupt refereeing."

The emails, reportedly sent to journalists from an official AFA account, quickly spread across social media, reigniting debate over the fiercely contested match in Atlanta.

Argentina, however, moved swiftly to reject the messages, insisting they were the result of a cyberattack. In an official statement, the AFA said its institutional email account had been compromised and stressed that the messages were neither authorised nor sent by the organisation.

"We have identified a number of emails sent from one of our institutional accounts. These messages were not sent by any member of our organisation and were not institutionally authorised," the statement said.

The fake emails reportedly praised Egypt's performance while claiming Argentina's 3-2 comeback victory was the product of biased officiating.

The incident comes amid continuing criticism from the Egyptian Football Association, which has accused French referee François Letexier and the match officials of favouring Argentina and has formally asked FIFA to remove the officials from the tournament.

Argentine outlet La Calle reported that investigators suspect the cyberattack may have been carried out by a group of hackers of Egyptian origin, although no evidence has been publicly presented to support the claim.

The AFA said it has launched an investigation, strengthened the security of its digital systems and urged the public to ignore any suspicious emails sent from its accounts, particularly those containing links, attachments or requests for personal information.