Overview
- Unauthorised messages criticizing French referee Francois Letexier were sent from AFA institutional accounts after Argentina’s 3-2 comeback over Egypt on Wednesday, according to multiple reports.
- The Argentine Football Association issued a statement saying the emails were not generated or authorised by its team and that its IT department is analysing the incident and taking security measures.
- A hacker group using the alias "Hossam Hassan" has claimed responsibility and says it stole the AFA database, alleging it contains emails, hashed passwords, national IDs, phone numbers and profile pictures; those claims remain unverified.
- FIFA’s chief refereeing officer, Pierluigi Collina, publicly defended the match officials and rejected what he called unfounded allegations about their integrity.
- Investigations are ongoing and the immediate risks include phishing, identity theft and reputational damage; reporters should watch for formal forensic results and any verified disclosures of stolen data, and note separate unverified reports of an unrelated FBI inquiry into AFA finances.