Claim: The referee who officiated the FIFA World Cup 2026 game between Argentina vs Egypt in the round of 16 has been banned.
Conclusion: The claim is false. Egypt legitimately complained and demanded action over some decisions taken by match referee François Letexier and VAR officials. However, there is no evidence, official statements or confirmation that FIFA has banned François Letexier. DigitEYE India also found no evidence that French referee François Letexier’s bank account was under investigation or that he received any mysterious $500,000 payments.
Rating: False 
Several social media users have claimed that the match referee during Argentina vs Egypt in the round of 16 of the FIFA World cup 2026 has been banned. Verified X user ‘ImoPunter’ shared such a claim with the caption : “JUST IN: The referee that officiated the game between Argentina vs Egypt has been banned due to poor officiating.” Attached to the post is a graphic showing the match referee François Letexier in a FIFA 2026 yellow jersey with the word “BANNED” overlaid in large white letters. The post gained over 3.3 million views and can be seen below –
🚨 JUST IN: The referee that officiated the game between Argentina vs Egypt has been banned due to poor officiating. 💔😔 pic.twitter.com/Mt77Zpbc4w
— BIG IMO🤴🏽🇨🇦 (@ImoPunter) July 8, 2026
Another claim suggests that the “authorities investigated François Letexier’s bank account and discovered that in the last 24 hours he received a mysterious payment of more than $500,000.” View the post here.
Circulan rumores,
Las autoridades investigaron la cuenta bancaria de François Letexier y descubrieron que en las últimas 24 horas recibió un pago misterioso de más de 500.000 dólares.
Esto ocurrió justo antes de que arbitrara el partido de Argentina contra Egipto.🎯 pic.twitter.com/yF9EtbMPXq
— 🌐EL GRAN DESPERTAR🌐 (@destapandolose1) July 8, 2026
FACT CHECK
DigitEYE India decided to investigate these claims and found them to be false. Egypt did raise legitimate concerns and called for action over several decisions made by referee François Letexier and the VAR team. However, no official announcement, credible evidence or confirmation suggest that FIFA has suspended or banned Letexier. There is no evidence that his bank account was being investigated or that he received a suspicious $500,000 payment.
Details:
For context, Argentina defeated Egypt 3-2 in the FIFA World Cup 2026 Round of 16 on July 7, 2026, in Atlanta, with French referee François Letexier officiating the match. Egypt squandered a 2-0 lead before losing 3-2 but the result was overshadowed by controversy after VAR disallowed Mostafa Zico’s second goal “following a lengthy VAR review for a marginal foul in the build-up”. The players that scored for Argentina included Cristian Romero, Lionel Messi and Enzo Fernandez.
Following this, we learnt from a Mid-Day report published on 9 July, 2026 that Egypt has filed a complaint to FIFA. The federation said its president, Hany Aburida, had “filed a complaint with FIFA” seeking “an investigation” into the French referee François Letexier. The complaint also alleged “double standards,” arguing those decisions “caused the Egypt team to lose the match and leave the World Cup.”
After searching thoroughly, DigitEYE found no evidence that FIFA has announced any ban, suspension or removal of François Letexier or his officiating team. According to an Al Jazeera report, FIFA refereeing chief Pierluigi Collina “defended the officiating” team while “dismissing allegations of bias.” Collina also “condemned the questioning of the officials’ integrity” after Egypt complained about the officiating following its defeat.
The above report also states that Collina accepts that “constructive discussion about decisions will always be part of football” but has no place for unfounded allegations. He goes onto say that “nobody can claim that FIFA refereeing can be influenced by anyone, not even by the FIFA president [Gianni Infantino],” as per the report. There is no mention of François Letexier being banned or any accusations of financial fraud.
As of 9 July, 2026,multiple reputable reports confirm the complaint exists but no ban has occurred. Any claims about François Letexier’s bank account being checked or any mysterious $500,000 payments are unsubstantial. Egypt has accused François Letexier and his officiating team of poor performance and VAR handling, not any financial corruption.
Thus, the claims that referee François Letexier has been banned due to poor officiating or that he received any mysterious $500,000 payments are false.
is false.
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