FIFA punishes Hossam Hassan and Zico...and the first move from the Egyptian Federation

The Egyptian Football Association announced, through its accounts on social media platforms, on Monday, that it had received decisions from the Disciplinary Committee of the International Federation (FIFA) regarding Hossam Hassan, his brother Ibrahim, and the player Mostafa Zico. The decisions included suspending Hossam Hassan, coach of the “Pharaohs” team, Ibrahim, the team manager, for 3 matches, and Zico for 5 matches.

The Egyptian Federation said that it had submitted a request to the Disciplinary Committee to obtain the detailed reasons and justifications for the decisions issued, in order to “study them and evaluate the legal position, in preparation for taking appeal procedures in accordance with the applicable regulations.” The reasons for punishing the trio were not revealed, but they had harshly criticized the referees of the Egyptian national team’s match with the Argentine national team in the round of 16 in the 2026 World Cup, led by French referee François Letxer.