FIFA wants 'embarrassing' footage of Achraf Hakimi 'declaiming' Gianni Infantino 'removed'
FIFA is reportedly trying to prevent the broadcast of footage of Achraf Hakimi's confrontation with President Gianni Infantino.
Hakimi's Morocco were beaten 2-1 by Croatia in the third-place playoff on Saturday to end their memorable tournament in Qatar.
The Moroccans became the first African nation to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup, but failed to win the bronze medal, and Hakimi was not happy.
The Paris Saint-Germain star clashed with the officials after a game in which he believed a number of decisions went against his side.
And according to beIN SPORTS Carrie Brown, the full-back explained his frustration to Infantino as the president prepared to hand out medals to Croatian players.
Brown tweeted: "Hakimi was talking to FIFA officials as he exited the pitch and entered the tunnel. Then approached Infantino and begged him about the refereeing. Politely, desperately. His teammates pushed him away.'
According to NOS, TV presenter Tom Egbers said: "He [Hakimi] was standing in front of Infantino, less than five centimeters away.
"In a high voice, he rambled to Infantino about the referee. It was painful."
And FIFA, clearly concerned about the appearance of the altercation, wanted the footage deleted.
SVT reporter Johan Kucukaslan said: "They wanted us to delete the footage. It's clear that these are embarrassing scenes for them, and it's a bit naive of them to think that ten journalists shouldn't talk about it when it's witnessed."
When asked about the incident afterwards, Hakimi insisted that Infantino "is my friend" and apologized.
He said: "Nothing happened. I was angry after the confrontation. I went to talk to him (Gianni Infantino). I apologize for the words I spoke to him. Infantino is my friend and I respect him very much, and nothing happened."
Morocco head coach Walid Regragui said he wouldn't have changed anything in Morocco's historic campaign that ended in defeat at the Khalifa International Stadium.
"We had 0.01% wins in this tournament at the start, we got to the semi-finals of the World Cup, we faced some of the powerhouses in football," he said.
"We are now one of the four best teams in the world, if you had told me that we were going to finish this far and that Morocco would be the number four in the world, I would have accepted that right away, he didn't there's nothing I would change.
“Tomorrow morning we will take stock and realize that we have accomplished a fantastic feat here. We had opponents – playing Croatia twice, Spain, Portugal, France, Belgium and Canada – it's great that we put in some great performances.
"Of course we are disappointed, but when we wake up tomorrow we will realize what we have achieved, it was a step too far for us to take third place."
READ MORE: If you're going to have a World Cup third-place play-off, at least do it like this, we guess
FIFA is reportedly trying to prevent the broadcast of footage of Achraf Hakimi's confrontation with President Gianni Infantino.
Hakimi's Morocco were beaten 2-1 by Croatia in the third-place playoff on Saturday to end their memorable tournament in Qatar.
The Moroccans became the first African nation to reach the semi-finals of the World Cup, but failed to win the bronze medal, and Hakimi was not happy.
The Paris Saint-Germain star clashed with the officials after a game in which he believed a number of decisions went against his side.
And according to beIN SPORTS Carrie Brown, the full-back explained his frustration to Infantino as the president prepared to hand out medals to Croatian players.
Brown tweeted: "Hakimi was talking to FIFA officials as he exited the pitch and entered the tunnel. Then approached Infantino and begged him about the refereeing. Politely, desperately. His teammates pushed him away.'
According to NOS, TV presenter Tom Egbers said: "He [Hakimi] was standing in front of Infantino, less than five centimeters away.
"In a high voice, he rambled to Infantino about the referee. It was painful."
And FIFA, clearly concerned about the appearance of the altercation, wanted the footage deleted.
SVT reporter Johan Kucukaslan said: "They wanted us to delete the footage. It's clear that these are embarrassing scenes for them, and it's a bit naive of them to think that ten journalists shouldn't talk about it when it's witnessed."
When asked about the incident afterwards, Hakimi insisted that Infantino "is my friend" and apologized.
He said: "Nothing happened. I was angry after the confrontation. I went to talk to him (Gianni Infantino). I apologize for the words I spoke to him. Infantino is my friend and I respect him very much, and nothing happened."
Morocco head coach Walid Regragui said he wouldn't have changed anything in Morocco's historic campaign that ended in defeat at the Khalifa International Stadium.
"We had 0.01% wins in this tournament at the start, we got to the semi-finals of the World Cup, we faced some of the powerhouses in football," he said.
"We are now one of the four best teams in the world, if you had told me that we were going to finish this far and that Morocco would be the number four in the world, I would have accepted that right away, he didn't there's nothing I would change.
“Tomorrow morning we will take stock and realize that we have accomplished a fantastic feat here. We had opponents – playing Croatia twice, Spain, Portugal, France, Belgium and Canada – it's great that we put in some great performances.
"Of course we are disappointed, but when we wake up tomorrow we will realize what we have achieved, it was a step too far for us to take third place."
READ MORE: If you're going to have a World Cup third-place play-off, at least do it like this, we guess
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