French Family Faces Threats After Egypt-Argentina Match Due to Name Confusion

A family named "Letexier," living in the rural area of Haute-Savoie in eastern France, did not anticipate that a football match they did not even watch would turn their peaceful life into a nightmare.

Since the final whistle of the Egypt-Argentina round of 16 match, the family has been subjected to a severe wave of cyberattacks and threats due to an unintended similarity in names.

The Egyptian national team came close to eliminating Argentina, the world champions, after taking a two-goal lead. However, the match ended in favor of Argentina during stoppage time amid heated objections to the refereeing decisions.

Egyptian fans, upset by the outcome, identified a single main culprit: the French referee François Letexier. Yet, the price was paid by another French citizen with a nearly identical name, differing only slightly in spelling.

Angry supporters did not distinguish between the two names and launched a random attack targeting the other François and his family, who were completely uninvolved in the game.

Sophie Letexier, the mother, described this dramatic change: "Previously, we found it amusing to hear commentators mention François Letexier while watching a match on TV. Today, the smile has completely disappeared."

Regarding the family’s attempts to prove their lack of connection to the referee, Sophie added: "We tried responding to some hateful messages by providing evidence of our identity, but it was futile. Some even doubted us, claiming I am the referee’s twin sister, despite no resemblance between us."

Although the two share a phonetically identical name, one is a professional international referee, while the other (the victim) works as deputy manager of a luxury hotel. The family has no ties to football.

Sophie confirmed: "We are not interested in football at all and only occasionally follow matches of the French national team."

She recounted the difficult days following the match: "The day after the game, I began receiving insulting messages on my personal Facebook account accusing my son of corruption and bribery and attacking me for poor parenting. At first, we smiled it off, but the volume of messages increased, and the language became harsher and more offensive."

Within hours, all family members’ digital platforms became arenas for spreading hatred. Sophie explained: "They curse us to go to hell and threaten to pursue us until they find us."

The abuse escalated beyond insults to explicit death threats, causing fear and panic within the family, who live in a remote rural area unaccustomed to such shocks.

After persistent efforts, Sophie contacted people in Egypt to gauge the situation, learning that her personal photo and phone number were widely circulated across various Egyptian social media platforms, making her, as she put it, an "unwilling star" in the land of the Pharaohs.

Facing this overwhelming flood of threats, the family filed an official complaint with the French National Gendarmerie and contacted the Egyptian embassy in Paris seeking a resolution. Nevertheless, the torrent of insults persisted. They found themselves besieged by calls and written alerts in three languages: French, English, and Arabic. Sophie’s WhatsApp alone recorded 445 messages and alert notifications by the time of her interview.

She described her deteriorating mental state: "The situation causes unbearable stress and nervous exhaustion. I have a constant knot in my stomach from morning, to the point that we could not eat lunch. Fear and anxiety about the unknown dominate us. The gendarmes advise us to let it be and wait for the storm to pass, but I see no sign of it easing soon."

The public outrage was not isolated from the atmosphere within the Egyptian team camp. The players expressed strong anger at the referee’s performance. Egyptian striker Mostafa Ziko stated after the match: "The refereeing decisions were unfair, and we suffered clear injustice; taking a two-goal lead against Argentina was not enough to secure the win amid prior arrangements and instructions that marred this tournament."

Ziko added: "The match witnessed strange events that everyone saw clearly, as clear as daylight."

Similarly, the Egyptian Football Association officially requested FIFA to launch an urgent and comprehensive investigation into the refereeing decisions led by Letexier, citing "grave refereeing errors and a policy of double standards" that directly caused Egypt’s elimination from the tournament.

Meanwhile, under continued digital siege, Sophie Letexier announced her decision to hire experts in digital security as a technical and final measure to halt the cyberbullying and harassment undermining her family’s stability.