- Morocco has officially submitted a complaint to the world governing body FIFA over the conduct of referee Cesar Ramos
- Ramos was in charge of Morocco's defeat to France in the second World Cup semi-final at the Al Bayt Stadium
- The Federation wants answers over two penalty decisions that did not go their way as their World Cup dream ended
The Morocco Football Federation has launched an official complaint to FIFA over the standards of refereeing during their semi-final match against France.
Mexican referee Cesar Ramos is on the spot in what the Federation has termed 'grotesque' officiating.
Source: Getty Images
The Atlas Lions saw their fairytale World Cup run cut short by France on December 14th. A goal in either half by Theo Hernandez and Randal Kolo Muani did the job for the defending champions to set up a tantalizing final clash against Argentina.
Morocco will now play Croatia in the third-place playoff, but they are aggrieved. The Federation accuses Ramos of denying them two 'clear' penalties which could have altered the direction of the game.
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Soufiane Boufal appeared to be brought down by Theo Hernandez in the penalty area, but it was the Moroccan winger was given a yellow card instead. Selim Amallah also had a coming together with Aurelien Tchoumaneni but the appeals were waved away.
In a statement on their Twitter account, the Federation said:
"The Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) strongly protested against the arbitration of the Morocco-France match officiated by Mr. Cesar Arturo Ramos. To this end, the FRMF sent a letter to the competent body in which it returns to the arbitration situation which deprived the Moroccan selection of two indisputable penalties in the opinion of several arbitration specialists," as translated by the Mirror.
Walid Regragui's side are highly unlikely to get a positive outcome from the complaint. Ramos becomes the latest referee to come under the spotlight following Facundo Tello who officiated the Portugal-Morocco game and Antonio Mateu Lahoz who was in charge of the tempestuous Argentina-Netherlands game.
Controversial referee sent home
Sports Brief had earlier reported that controversial referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz has reportedly been sent home following a tempestuous World Cup game that he officiated.
Lahoz was in charge of the Argentina clash vs the Netherlands on December 9th and was on the spot for making dubious decisions.
The Spanish referee handed out a total of 15 yellow cards in a game that was constantly punctuated by rising flares from both teams.
