Egypt coach Hossam Hassan has said his side suffered an "unjust defeat" to Argentina in the FIFA World Cup Round of 16 because of "marketing support" intended to keep the defending champions in the tournament.
Hassan criticised French referee Francois Letexier after Egypt's 3-2 defeat, saying the match lacked fairness and that the result was influenced by "marketing reasons."
"We suffered an unjust defeat," Hassan told reporters on Tuesday.
"There is support for the world champions from every direction – marketing support. They wanted the previous world champions to stay in the tournament. They wanted Messi to stay."
Hassan said Egypt outperformed Argentina for much of the match but claimed factors beyond football affected the outcome.
"We were better than the world champions in everything, but there were factors on and off the pitch that affected the result," he said.
'Wasted efforts of entire nation'
Hassan speculated that the officials had been put under pressure to keep one of the biggest names in the competition.
"Perhaps they wanted to keep the world champions in the competition. Perhaps they wanted Messi to stay in the running," he told BeIn Sports.
"In football, there are sometimes external factors that go beyond the technical aspects. The world champions received support at every level."
Egypt forward Mostafa Zico also criticised the officiating after the match.
"The referee was unfair and wasted the efforts of an entire nation," Zico said. "From the beginning of the match, he was against us. The tournament is already directed."
Zico apologised to Egyptian fans, saying the players had hoped to bring joy to the country.
Argentina came from two goals down to beat Egypt 3-2, with Enzo Fernandez scoring the stoppage-time winner to send the defending champions into the quarterfinals.
