July 25 – The men’s Olympic football tournament got off to a violent and chaotic start Wednesday as Morocco stunned two-time gold medalist Argentina with a 2-1 win.
The result tells only part of the story after a dramatic end to the match in Saint-Etienne, which had to be suspended for nearly two hours when Morocco fans ran on to the pitch and threw bottles from the stands to protest a late equalising goal by Argentina in the 16th minute of added time, only for it to be later disallowed for offside following a VAR review.
As Argentina, gold medal winners in 2004 and 2008, thought they had escaped from the Group B match with a draw and their players celebrated, projectiles including bottles and plastic cups rained down from the stands coupled with a partial pitch invasion. There were images of some Argentina players flinching when what appeared to be a flare was thrown.
The pitch was covered with projectiles when it was initially thought that the full-time whistle had been blown. Even FIFA’s website declared the game over. But about an hour later, organisers confirmed the match was not officially over and that VAR would review whether the goal would stand – which it didn’t.
The sides finally reappeared to play out three more minutes in a stadium that had been cleared of spectators.
It was an undignified start to the entire Games and hardly represented the Olympic spirit. Even before kick off the Argentine national anthem was booed by the predominantly Moroccan crowd.
“It is a circus,” complained Argentina coach Javier Mascherano afterwards about the ludicrously late VAR call. “I’ve never experienced anything like it in my entire sporting career.”
“At no point did they tell us our goal was not valid… this would not even happen in a neighbourhood tournament. It’s pathetic. Beyond the Olympic spirit, the organisation needs to be up to standard. At the moment it is not, unfortunately.”
Argentina’s FA said it had issued a formal complaint to FIFA to “take the necessary regulatory measures for such a serious event” while a spokesperson for Paris organisers reacted: “Paris 2024 is working with the relevant stakeholders to understand the causes and identify appropriate actions.”
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