Following their 2-0 defeat by France in the World Cup semi-final, the Morocco FA has lodged an official complaint to FIFA regarding the performance of referee Cesar Ramos.
The historic run of the Atlas Lions at the tournament was ended by Didier Deschamps’s side, making Morocco the first-ever African team to reach the final four of a World Cup.
They criticized the ‘grotesque refereeing’ and alleged that Ramos had denied them ‘two obvious penalties’ during the first half of the match.
In a statement on their website, the Moroccan FA expressed, ‘The Royal Moroccan Football Federation strongly protested the refereeing of the Moroccan national team match against the French national team, led by Cesar Ramos.’
The statement continued, ‘The Royal Moroccan Football Federation affirms that it will not hesitate to defend the rights of our team, calling for fairness in taking the necessary measures, regarding the refereeing injustice practised on the Moroccan national team in its match against the French national team in the semi-final of the World Cup.’
During the first half, an incident occurred where Morocco forward Sofiane Boufal was booked after an apparent foul by France left-back Theo Hernandez in the box.
Hakim Ziyech had found space inside Hernandez before the French defender recovered, but a heavy touch inside the box led to a collision with Boufal.
The collision was awarded in favor of France, with referee Ramos giving the former Southampton player a yellow card. However, replays indicate that the decision could have easily resulted in a penalty in favor of Morocco.
