Argentina can confront a big crisis in their semifinal against Croatia this Tuesday. The legendary Argentine striker can be banned, and Argentina might need to appear in the semis without him. FIFA might ban him following intense criticism, which Messi lashed out at the referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz in their quarter-finals against the Dutch.
Is Messi to miss the semi-final against Croatia?
The quarter-final between Argentina and Netherlands was scintillating, with the two-time champions beating the Dutch in a penalty shootout. Discipline stood out to be a major issue in the game as both the players and coaching staff of the respective teams were seen losing their cool often during the match. Resultantly, the referee had to show the yellow card a total of 16 times.
Besides verbal battles, brawls were visible too, during and also after the game. After the game, the referee Antonio Mateu was severely criticized by Lionel Messi and Argentine goalkeeper Emi Martinez.
After the heavy criticism from the Argentine side, FIFA initiated their investigation into breaching article 12 and 16 takes care of the misconduct of players and officials and deals with the order and administration in a game. A breach of article 12 has been imposed against the Dutch Football Association.
The game saw multiple heated exchanges as the Netherlands came back stronger and equaled it 2-2 to take it to the penalty shootout.
The Statement
Messi said,
“I don’t want to talk about referees because they will sanction you, but we were scared before the game because we knew what was coming. I can’t say what I think, but FIFA has to look at this. (FIFA) can’t put a referee like that on this game when he is not up to the level.”
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