Colombia's players argue with US referee Mark Geiger after he gave a penalty to England during the Russia 2018 World Cup round of 16 football match between Colombia and England at the Spartak Stadium in Moscow on July 3, 2018. AFP photo
A petition to demanding a replay of the England Vs Colombia football match has gathered over 280,000 signatures.
A Colombian law student, Juan Diego García, believes his team lost due to major injustices during the last-16 match against England.
One of them was the wrongfully awarded to England penalty based on a “non-existent” foul, according to Garcia. Another one was the referee’s decision not to uphold Carlos Bacca’s “legitimate” goal.
The petition has now gathered over 280,000 signatures, with Garcia demanding FIFA look into the wrongdoing.
Following the game, Colombia captain Radamel Falcao also criticized American referee Mark Geiger for “certain bias” towards England.
Mark Geiger found himself in the middle of a World Cup controversy yet again, when he was accused by a Moroccan player Nordin Amrabat of asking Cristiano Ronaldo for his shirt as a souvenir.
Geiger refereed the Portugal vs Morocco game on June 20. FIFA condemned the allegations and said Geiger “strongly refutes” the claims.
The England vs Colombia match ended in 4:3, following a dramatic penalty shooutout won by the English squad.
Following the defeat, Colombia squad left the World Cup, while the English team moved on to the quarter-finals.
As Colombia is grieving over Tuesday’s World Cup penalty shootout loss to England, Monaco striker Radamel Falcao and Argentina legend Diego Maradona suggested their versions of why the team was knocked out of the World Cup, and are blaming the referee.
Standing in front of the reporters after Tuesday’s defeat by England on penalties in the best of 16 round, Colombia captain Radamel Falcao criticized American referee Mark Geiger for what he called a bias towards England.
“I found it peculiar that they put an American referee in this instance,” Falcao said, as quoted by ESPN.
“To tell you the truth, the process leaves a lot of doubts. He only spoke English, some bias was certain.” The striker went on to say that the referee was favoring England in the 50-50 plays.
Colombia conceded 23 fouls in Tuesday’s tense clash, compared to England’s thirteen. The Latin American squad was shown six out of the eight yellow cards. Geiger also awarded the Three Lions a spot kick after Harry Kane was pulled down in the box.
England will face Sweden in Samara on Saturday for a place in the semi-finals.
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