FIFA has opened proceedings against the Argentinian Football Association for two potential breaches of the Disciplinary Code during their World Cup quarter-final against the Netherlands.
To say Friday night's clash at the Lusail Stadium was heated would be an understatement.
Referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz handed out 18 bookings throughout the game – the most in any game in World Cup history – as tempers boiled over on numerous occasions.
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Leandro Paredes smashed the ball at the Netherlands dugout, which sparked a massive on-field brawl that resulted in Paredes getting floored by the giant frame of Virgil van Dijk.
Argentina goalkeeper Emi Martinez accused the referee of "wanting them [Netherlands] to score" in his post-match interview, while Lionel Messi urged FIFA to drop Lahoz all together.
"This match shouldn't have ended as it did," Messi said." I don't want to talk about the referee because they sanction you, but people watched what happened.
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"We were afraid before the match because we knew how he was and I think FIFA has to review this, you can't put a referee like him for these matches."
Now, FIFA have got involved by opening proceedings against both the Argentinian FA and the Dutch FA.
In a statement released on Saturday, they said: "The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has opened proceedings against the Argentinian Football Association due to potential breaches of articles 12 (Misconduct of players and officials) and 16 (Order and security at matches) of the FIFA Disciplinary Code during the Netherlands v. Argentina FIFA World Cup™ match that took place on 9 December.
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"Additionally, the FIFA Disciplinary Committee has opened proceedings against the Dutch Football Association due to potential breaches of article 12 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code in relation to the same match."
As mentioned earlier, Emi Martinez was far from complimentary about the referee in his post-match comments. In fact, he brought Netherlands boss Louis van Gaal into the conversation.
“It was a tricky game and I thought we controlled the game really well," he said. “We went 2-0 up, we basically controlled the game and the referee was giving everything to them.
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“All of a sudden they got a good header, a good flick, which I couldn’t see and then it turned upside-down.
“The ref was giving everything to them. He gave ten minutes [added time] for no reason, ten minutes.
“He was giving free-kicks outside the box for them two or three times – he just wanted them to score, that’s basically it.
“So hopefully we don’t have that referee anymore, because he’s useless.”
He added: "I heard Van Gaal saying that in a penalty shootout they had the advantage, or if we went to penalties then they would win.
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“I think he needs to keep his mouth shut.”
Thoughts on the behaviour throughout Friday's quarter-final clash between the Netherlands and Argentina?
Let us know in the comments.
Featured Image Credit: AlamyTopics: Netherlands, Argentina, FIFA, Football World Cup
