More than 215,000 French fans asked to replay the 2022 World Cup final
In the 23rd minute, referee Szymon Marciniak gave Argentina a penalty when determining that Ousmane Dembele had fouled Angel Di Maria in the penalty area. On the 11m mark, Lionel Messi finished sinking to the right corner to clear the deadlock.
In a petition on the website MesOpinions, French fans emphasized that Argentina did not deserve the penalty because "the collision was very small" and Di Maria also "falled easily".
These petitioners also consider the South American representative's second goal to be invalid, as Kylian Mbappe was fouled by Cristian Romero in the opposite half, before Di Maria's cross corner made it 2- 0 at 36 minutes. They also questioned why VAR didn't come in, and Marciniak was supposed to watch the slow motion video again.
Meanwhile, L'Équipe newspaper asserted that Argentina's third goal was also invalid. In the 108th minute, Lautaro Martinez shot from a narrow angle to hit French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris. Messi was present at the right time to kick back, helping Argentina rise to a 3-2 lead. Before the Argentine captain finished, his two teammates from the bench ran into the field to wait to celebrate.
The French daily also quoted Article 9, Law 3 of the FIFA Law of Football to suggest that referee Marciniak should give France a free kick, instead of recognizing Argentina's goal. The passage reads: "After a goal, if the referee realizes someone has entered the field from outside before the goal is scored then: The referee must cancel the goal if the outside player is a player, an alternative Thus, the player has been sent off or a member of the coaching staff of the team has scored".
During the press conference on December 23, Marciniak responded to the media and French fans. He held up his phone with a picture of seven French substitutes entering the field as Mbappe prepared to score one of three goals in the final. "The French seem to have forgotten to mention this photo," Marciniak insisted.
The Polish referee did not say where the picture was taken during Mbappe's hat-trick. But he argued that if Messi's goal was disallowed, then the French star's goal would also be cancelled.
Despite praise for the way the referees handled the whistle and handled the pressure of the World Cup final, the petition on MesOpinions called the refereeing work a "disappointment".
With 215,766 signatures, the petition calling for the reorganization of the 2022 World Cup final is in the top 20 most signed petitions on MesOpinions. According to the website, the petition needs at least 500,000 signatures to become one of the top 3 signed petitions. But as British newspaper Sportmail puts it, "What authority will MesOpinions have to get FIFA to consider the complaints?".
There used to be more than 270,000 French fans who signed a petition on Les Lignes Bougent asking to replay France's match against Switzerland in the 1/8 round of Euro 2021. According to the account holder who created this petition, goalkeeper Yann Sommer broke the law. when stepping two feet off the line before pushing Kylian Mbappe's decisive penalty. Thanks to this save, Switzerland beat France 5-4 in the penalty shootout. But this petition seems to only help French fans relieve the disappointment of the home team being eliminated, before sinking into oblivion.
