Morocco’s football federation (FMRF) has protested to the football governing body FIFA about the refereeing during Wednesday’s World Cup semi-final.
The semi-final match led to their 2-0 defeat by defending champions France in Qatar.
The FMRF expressed dissatisfaction over the fact that Mexican referee, Cesar Ramos failed to award a penalty in the first half to the North Africans when France player Theo Hernandez made contact with Sofiane Boufal in the area.
Rather than awarding a spot-kick, which several neutrals felt was appropriate, the referee instead booked winger Boufal for a foul.
The Moroccans also expressed that they were unhappy with the hauling down of substitute Selim Amallah as he awaited the delivery of a set piece also failed to prompt another look from officials.
The team was the first to play at a World Cup semi-final but lost 2-0 after an early goal by left-back Hernandez was followed by a late strike from substitute Randal Kolo Muani.
“The FMRF has written to the relevant body to review the refereeing decisions that deprived the Moroccan team of two penalties that were indisputable in the view of several refereeing specialists,” the Moroccan ruling body said in a statement.
“The FMRF was equally astonished that the video assistant referee (VAR) did not react to these situations.”
