Argentine FA says systems hacked by Egyptian group after World Cup win, fake emails sent

The Argentine Football Federation (AFA) has reported that its systems were infiltrated by Egyptian hackers, who sent mass emails claiming that Egypt's World Cup victory was "snatched by corrupt refereeing decisions."

According to the AFA, the breach targeted accredited members of the Argentinian media, who received threats of further cyber-attacks if "justice" is not served.

Details of the Alleged Hack

In a report from Argentinian outlet La Calle, the emails—sent from official AFA email addresses—questioned the performance of French referee Francois Letexier. The messages stated that:

• "Argentina did not win"
• The victory resulted from "corrupt refereeing decisions"
• Egypt's performance was praised

The outlet suggests that a group of Egyptian-origin hackers breached part of the federation's database, obtaining email addresses, passwords, IP addresses, and specialised form information.

AFA Statement

Following the mass emails sent to reporters, Argentina released an urgent statement urging recipients to disregard any "unusual" activity from their channels.

The statement read:

"Dear colleagues, we would like to inform you that we have detected the possible sending of emails from one of our institutional accounts that were neither generated nor authorised by our team.

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"Given this situation, and while we conduct the corresponding verifications with the IT department, we would like to inform you that... We ask that you disregard any messages you have recently received from our account that seem unusual...

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"There is a possibility that our account has been the subject of unauthorised access, so we are working to clarify what happened and take the necessary security measures. Our systems have the corresponding security and safeguards in place.

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"Thank you very much for your attention and cooperation."

Match Background

The Pharaohs were on the receiving end of a historic World Cup comeback, as Lionel Messi inspired a second-half fightback to keep Argentina's hopes of defending their crown alive.

• Mohamed Salah and co. took a two-goal lead and looked set to stun the world champions
• Messi scored and assisted in a 3-2 win for Lionel Scaloni's side
• The match was marred by angry scenes from the Egyptian contingent, who were aggrieved by refereeing decisions

Controversial Incidents

• Ziko's would-be second goal was ruled out due to a foul in the build-up
• Salah was denied a penalty in the passage of play that resulted in Enzo Fernandez's winner

The contents of the emails echoed complaints and criticisms previously made by coach Hossam Hassan and Mostafa Ziko.

FIFA Responds

The criticisms met a defiant response from FIFA's Chief Refereeing Officer, Pierluigi Collina. The former World Cup final official defended his colleagues, stating:

"Constructive discussion about decisions will always be part of football, but unfounded allegations have no place in our sport. Nobody can question the integrity of the FIFA World Cup match officials."

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