Roy Keane says ‘it’s not right’ after Mbappe World Cup controversy | Football | Sport
Roy Keane has sympathised with a fuming Kylian Mbappe after he missed a penalty during France’s World Cup quarter-final clash against Morocco. The Frenchman was swift to direct his anger towards the referee, having been made to wait three minutes and 10 seconds before taking his spot-kick.
During half-time, ITV pundit Keane was not pleased by the delay, which he believes gives Morocco an advantage. He said: “It is unfair, it’s a pressure situation, why does he have to wait for over three minutes? It’s unfair, even for these world-class players. Time is the enemy for the striker, it almost gives the advantage back to the goalkeeper and the team who conceded the penalty, it’s not right.”
Mbappe earned the penalty after being brought down by Manchester United‘s Noussair Mazraoui, but even after Ousmane Dembele had protected the penalty spot to stop any tampering, Mbappe’s delay continued. It seemed a protracted VAR review was underway despite the foul appearing straightforward.
Following the wait, which saw Mbappe return to the spot multiple times to reposition the ball, the Real Madrid attacker finally took his run-up and delivered a weak effort that was comfortably kept out by Yassine Bounou.
The forward flung his arms up in exasperation and seemed to shout in the referee’s direction. With the drinks break arriving shortly afterwards, Mbappe wasted no time in confronting the official to voice his grievances. ITV commentator Ally McCoist described the holdup as ‘absolute nonsense’ but reckons Mbappe has only himself to fault.
“You might be far from happy, but don’t do this, run up with a stutter and then hit it softly right to the keeper,” he said. “Run up with a bit of purpose. There’s no power in it, no aggression, no belief, which is incredible for a man of that talent,” he later added.
French supporters, meanwhile, were left furious when FIFA appointed an all-Argentine officiating panel for the fixture, led by Facundo Tello. It marked the first occasion in the tournament that an entire refereeing team had hailed from the same country. The appointment fuelled conspiracy theories after many raised concerns over Argentina’s victory against Egypt.
FIFA found itself accused of showing favouritism towards Lionel Messi’s nation in the wake of several contentious decisions. FIFA Chief Refereeing Officer Pierluigi Collina fired back in defence of his officials, insisting that “nobody can question the integrity” of the officiating and asserting that the World Cup referees are “not influenced by anyone”.
