The Argentine Football Association (AFA) has announced it is investigating a potential cyberattack after emails were reportedly sent from its official accounts criticizing refereeing decisions during the team's recent World Cup match. The emails, which questioned the fairness of the officiating in Argentina's 3-2 victory over Egypt, were allegedly sent to journalists following the match.
Argentina secured a dramatic comeback win, coming from two goals down to advance to the quarter-finals. Following the game, the Egyptian Football Association had formally requested that FIFA ban the referee, Francois Letexier, and his officiating team, citing bias in favor of Argentina.
Argentine news outlet La Calle reported that emails originating from the AFA's account stated that "Argentina did not win" and attributed the result to "corrupt refereeing decisions." The report also suggested that a group of Egyptian-origin hackers were responsible for the messages, which reportedly also praised Egypt's performance.
In response, the AFA released a statement acknowledging the suspicious emails. "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 authorized by our team," the statement read. The association urged the public to disregard any unusual messages received from their account, especially those containing links, attachments, or requests for personal information.
The AFA further stated, "There is a possibility that our account has been subject to unauthorized access, so we are working to clarify what happened and adopt the necessary security measures."