Morocco star Hakimi pleads with Fifa boss Infantino and complains about referee after third-place loss to Croatia
MOROCCAN star Achraf Hakimi allegedly confronted Fifa president Gianni Infantino to complain about refereeing yesterday.
Josko Gvardiol and Mislav Orsic sealed a 2-1 win for Croatia against the Atlas Lions to claim third place at the World Cup.
GettyAchraf Hakimi allegedly confronted Fifa’s president after Morocco’s defeat to Croatia[/caption]
LeSiteinfo YouTubeHe was fuming about the refereeing in the third-place play-off clash[/caption]
But defender Hakimi, 24, was furious with the match officials and Infantino after the defeat.
Morocco firstly had a penalty ruled out for handball after Youssef En-Nesyri’s header hit Bruno Petkovic as replays showed the ball hit the Croatian’s back.
Hakimi was then brought down by Petkovic, but referee Abdulrahman Al-Jassim waved play on.
Now footage has emerged of the 24-year-old, who plays his club football for Paris Saint-Germain confronting the officials following the full-time whistle.
But beIN SPORTS reporter Carrie Brown has stated that Hakimi also sounded off about the refereeing to Fifa president Infantino as he prepared to hand out bronze medals to the Croatia players.
Instead of ranting and raving, Hakimi is said to have spoken in a “polite and desperate” way to Infantino.
Brown then added that the player’s teammates “walked him away” after he “pleaded” with the footy chief.
SVT Sport reporter Johan Kucukaslan has claimed that Fifa wanted to “delete the images” of the “embarrassing scenes” from Hakimi and Infantino’s exchange.
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He told SVT Sport: “They wanted us to delete the images.
“It is clear that these are embarrassing scenes for them, and it is a bit naive of them to think that a dozen journalists should not report on this when we witness it happening.”
TV presenter Tom Egbers added: “He stood in front of Infantino, less than five centimetres.
“With a raised voice, he ranted to Infantino about the referee. It was painful.”
However, while speaking to reporters, Hakimi insisted that “nothing happened” in his confrontation.
Although he did admit that he was “angry” after the World Cup match.
