The Argentina Football Association (AFA) have filed a formal complaint with FIFA's Disciplinary Committee after and objects were thrown at players during Argentina's to Morocco in the Olympic men's soccer opening match. After scored what was believed to be the game-tying goal in the 16th minute of stoppage time for Argentina, fans ran on to the pitch and items such as bottles and firecrackers were thrown at players during the celebrations. That led to the referee suspending the match, leading to a nearly two-hour delay.
After fans emptied the stadium, play was set to resume, but not before a VAR review showed that Medina was in an offside position when he headed in his goal. The goal was overturned and the teams then played out the final three minutes with Morocco holding on for the win. UPDATE: After a delay of over an hour, Cristian Medina's late equalizer was DISALLOWED.
Morocco won the match 2-1. šµ ā NBC Sports Soccer (@NBCSportsSoccer) The on Thursday saying, in part, "It is imperative to guarantee the safety of the protagonists for the peaceful development of this beautiful sport that is football and from the home of Argentine Football, we will do what is necessary to make this happen." Argentina head coach said afterward the match was the "biggest circus I have ever seen in my life.
" He added that he wished the referee allowed play to go on following the pitch invasion rather than go through a long delay. āThe game was suspended for security reasons. When we had no news, we started to notice things," .
"We donāt like this kind of thing to happen either. We donāt want to be favored or made fun of. Now we have to turn the page and look for the two victories that we will need to qualify.
āWhat happened on the field was a scandal. We have to focus on our own. Obviously it is confusing but now we have to look forward, this is over, it is over.
We have to focus on the two games. Keep the anger and use it in the next games.ā Claudio Tapia, president of the AFA, backing up Mascherano's frustrations.
"It was regrettable what we had to experience today as Argentinians in Saint-EĢtienne," Tapia wrote. "Waiting almost two hours in the locker room, only for our players to have to go back out to warm up and continue playing a match that should have been suspended by the referee after the pitch invasion by Moroccan spectators and the violence suffered by the Argentine delegation, is truly senseless and goes against the competition rules. "Furthermore, the opinions of the captains of both teams, who believed the game should not have resumed, were not heard.
"From the Argentine Football Association, we have already submitted the complaint to FIFA's Disciplinary Committee so that the relevant regulatory measures can be taken and a sanction imposed on those responsible." Adding to a frustrating start for Argentina's men's soccer team is the claim by Mascherano that players had items stolen during a training session this week. "Yesterday they broke into the building," .
"They stole things from [ ] Almada. They ask us for credentials for everything, but then these things happen. They stole Almada's watches and rings.
" "We donāt like these things happening," . "Weāre not asking for favors, but we also donāt want to be treated like fools, which is exactly what happened today." Mascherano did not elaborate on the alleged robbery or say if a police report was filed.
Argentina finishes up play in Group B with matches against Iraq on Saturday and Ukraine on July 30..
