Technically, the 33rd Summer Olympics have yet to have officially begun, but don’t tell that to any soccer fans. Because of both the overabundance of events and the desire to eke out a couple of more days of TV avails, yesterday was the first day of actual competition, with preliminary matches in several team sports already underway. And one in particular was a doozy.
Per THE ATHLETIC’s Ali Rampling:
There was a chaotic end to the Olympic men’s football match between Argentina and Morocco — with the game restarting nearly two hours after it had appeared to finish following crowd trouble and a last-minute equaliser.
The teams left the pitch and broadcast feeds cut out as Argentina appeared to have secured a 2-2 draw courtesy of Cristian Medina’s goal deep in stoppage time, only for that equaliser to be later ruled out following an intervention from the video assistant referee (VAR). Play restarted at 6pm BST/1pm ET in an empty stadium at the Stade Geoffroy-Guichard in Saint-Etienne, four hours after the original kick-off, and Morocco held on for a 2-1 victory.
And it sure didn’t sit well with the folks that were fresh off their third consecutive international competiton victory in COPA America earlier this month, as the ASSOCIATED PRESS’ James Robson added:
The head of Argentina’s soccer federation said the chaotic ending to its Olympic soccer match against Morocco on Wednesday “makes no sense,” and Argentina’s coach called the scene “a scandal.”
“What happened on the field was a scandal. This isn’t a neighborhood tournament, these are the Olympic Games,” Argentina coach Javier Mascherano said.
Paris organizers said they were trying to “understand the causes and identify appropriate actions” after the match in Saint-Etienne. Argentina’s soccer federation said it had issued a formal protest Wednesday to world governing body FIFA and would do “what is necessary” to guarantee the safety of players.
And this came on the heels of a revelation of some controversial actions involving soccer even before anyone took the pitch. Per USA TODAY’s Josh Peter:
The Canadian Olympic Committee announced Tuesday it has sent home an assistant women’s soccer coach and an analyst with Canada Soccer after accusations of spying on an opponent. The New Zealand women’s soccer team said its training session was disrupted Tuesday by a drone − a drone operated by a staff member of the Canadian’s women’s soccer team.
In a statement, the Canadian Olympic Committee acknowledged there have been two incidents of drone flying in the city of Saint-Étienne, where the two teams are set to play Thursday. The COC has removed assistant coach Jasmine Mander and analyst Joseph Lombardi from the team. The COC also said it accepted head coach Bev Priestman’s decision to not coach the team in Thursday’s game. Canada Soccer staff will undergo mandatory ethics training.
What was all that about the Olympic spirit, camaraderie among nations? Har har, HAR de har harrrr.
If this is what day -2 is like, just wait until this thing really kicks off. N’est-ce pas?
Courage…