Argentina Football Association Investigates Cyber Attack After Controversial Match

Argentina’s football authorities say they may have fallen victim to a cyber attack after emails sent from an official account appeared to denounce the refereeing in the world champions’ dramatic 3-2 World Cup win over Egypt.

The round-of-16 tie had already been drenched in controversy. Argentina, staring at a stunning early exit as they trailed 2-0, clawed their way back with a late surge to turn the match on its head and book a place in the quarter-finals. The comeback lit up the tournament. It also lit a fuse.

In the aftermath, the Egyptian Football Association formally asked Fifa to remove French referee Francois Letexier and his entire officiating team from the competition, accusing them of bias towards Argentina.

The dispute then moved from the pitch to the inbox.

Argentine outlet La Calle reported that emails sent from an official Argentine Football Association (AFA) account to journalists shortly after the final whistle claimed “Argentina did not win” and that the result stemmed from “corrupt refereeing decisions”. The messages, according to the report, went on to praise Egypt’s performance.

Inside AFA, alarm bells rang. La Calle reported that sources at the federation believe a group of hackers of Egyptian origin may have been responsible for the rogue messages, hijacking the institutional account in the heat of the post-match storm.

AFA quickly issued a public statement, distancing itself from the emails and raising the prospect of a security breach.

“We want to inform you that we have detected the possible sending of emails from one of our institutional accounts that were not generated or authorised by our team,” the statement read.

The federation urged anyone who had received unusual messages from its address to ignore them, especially if they included links, attachments or requests for personal data. It warned there was “a possibility that our account has been subject to unauthorised access”, and said it was working to clarify what had happened and to implement “the necessary security measures”.

A furious knockout tie, a refereeing row, and now a cyber intrusion claim. Argentina move on in the tournament; the questions around how far this controversy spreads are only just beginning.