World Cup: Morocco protests “grotesque” refereeing to FIFA after semifinal

The Moroccan Royal football federation (FRMF) has submitted a complaint to the FIFA in protest over the “grotesque” refereeing during the semifinal game it lost to France, the FRMF said in a statement.

The FRMF deplored that the referee did not whistle two penalties in Morocco’s favor.

One flashpoint came when Morocco forward Sofiane Boufal was upended in a clash with Theo Hernandez, only for Mexican referee Cesar Ramos to give Boufal an unfair yellow card deeming wrongly that Boufal had committed a foul.

Selim Amallah then tumbled under the close attention of France’s Aurelien Tchouameni in first-half stoppage-time.

Fans and sports experts from around the world criticized harshly Cesar Ramos for his “biased” and “unfair” decisions in favor of the French side and condemned the fact that referees watching the var failed to alert the referee.

Morocco will play Saturday the third place game against Croatia which they held to a draw at the group stage.

The Atlas Lions have broken record as the first African country to reach the semifinals beating Belgium, Canada, Spain and Portugal.