[Saba Sports News] According to Egyptian media outlets, numerous Egyptian artists, public figures and netizens have called for a boycott of Lionel Messi. The outcry stems from Egypt’s defeat to Argentina in the World Cup Round of 16, alongside controversial referee decisions made during that fixture. Separately, voices have emerged urging a boycott of a global food brand that features Messi’s portrait on its product packaging. Reports state that weeks prior to the World Cup kickoff, the multinational food firm printed images of Messi and other tournament players across its product packaging. Insiders from the company revealed that it has resolved to stop printing Messi’s likeness on all new goods distributed within Egypt. The referee’s calls and the deployment of VAR (Video Assistant Referee) throughout the match have sparked widespread debate, with the fallout continuing to dominate discussion across global media and social media platforms to this day. Messi missed a penalty during the contest, yet scored Argentina’s second goal minutes before the end of regulation time. His post-match remarks and behaviour enraged Egyptian supporters, despite him having previously enjoyed immense popularity in the country.
The editor believes that Egyptian fans should not fixate excessively on Messi as an individual. Instead, they ought to move on from this match and take a positive view of Egypt’s achievement of reaching the World Cup Round of 16.