ISTANBUL, July 8 -- Egypt coach Hossam Hassan on Tuesday claimed his side suffered an "unjust defeat" to Argentina in the FIFA World Cup round of 16 because of "marketing support" intended to keep the defending champions in the tournament.

Hassan criticized French referee Francois Letexier after Egypt's 3-2 defeat, saying the match lacked fairness and that the result was influenced by "marketing reasons."

"We suffered an unjust defeat," Hassan told reporters. "There is support for the world champions from every direction - marketing support. They wanted the previous world champions to stay in the tournament. They wanted Messi to stay."

Hassan said Egypt outperformed Argentina for much of the match but claimed factors beyond football af...