Paris 2024: Messi, others react to ‘unbelievable’ VAR call against Morocco

The chaotic circumstances surrounding Argentina’s defeat to Morocco in the men’s football competition at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games left a sour taste in the mouth of many Argentines, not least Lionel Messi.

Moments after the match, the Argentina captain described the incidents as ”Unbelievable” in a post on his official Instagram page.

He added a “flushed face” emoji, suggesting surprise or a deep sense of embarrassment.

His former teammate and current coach of the Argentine Olympic team, Javier Mascherano said “I can’t explain what happened. We spent about an hour and a half in the dressing room where they never told us what was going to happen.”

Argentina recovered from two goals down to score what they thought was the leveler, in 16th of an initial 15-minutes of injury time at the end of the second half.

A section of fans in the stadium then invaded the pitch, forcing referee Glenn Nyberg to halt the game as both sets of teams retired to the dressing room.

Stewards attempt to shield players from angry fans who invaded the pitch

Play resumed after an hour with no fans present, but with more controversy. The first order of business was the determination of the legitimacy of Christian Medina’s goal for Argentina. In the end, VAR ruled out Argentina’s leveler, as Morocco secured a controversial 2-1 victory.

Here’s how the chaos and confusion unfolded…

• Immediately after Medina looked to have made it 2-2, a number of cups and bottles were then thrown at the celebrating Argentina side before what appeared to be a flare landed near the players and coaching staff.
• A number of fans in Morocco colours also ran on to the pitch, with some being escorted off the pitch by stewards.
• Riot police moved to the side of the pitch and the referee immediately took the players off the pitch.
• The fans inside the stadium in Saint Etienne were told to leave the ground and a message on a big screen said: “Your session has been suspended please make your way to the nearest exit.”
• It was unclear whether the match had been classed as finished, but it was then revealed the final three minutes would be played in an empty stadium with no fans present.
• Before the match could be played to a finish, it was announced that Argentina’s potential equaliser had actually been ruled out by a video assistant referee decision that showed a player was offside before Medina scored.

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