England fans change World Cup referee's Wikipedia page after losing to France
England fans made a rather x-rated edit to the World Cup referee's Wikipedia page after the team's controversial World Cup loss to France.
Last night (10 December), the Three Lions were knocked out of the 2022 edition of the football tournament after a 2-1 defeat in the quarter finals.
But the game was launched into controversy, with many England fans complaining about the performance of Brazilian referee Wilton Sampaio.
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Sorry to make all the fans out there relive the moment, but just for context, France took the lead in the 17th minute after a wonder goal from Aurélien Tchouaméni - though there were questions about a potential foul on Buyako Saka in the buildup.
Then in the 24th minute, Harry Kane was thought to have been brought down in the penalty area by the French defender.
Although players appealed for a penalty after the England captain was bundled over, the ref waved away appeals, and even after a tense VAR check, it wasn't given and play resumed.
The dramas weren't over in the second half either, as England were awarded two penalties, although the second was not originally given by Sampaio.
The penalty - which Harry Kane went on to miss - saw Mason Mount pushed in the box with no attempt to play the ball by the French defender.
The referee needed the help of VAR to eventually get to the penalty decision.
The fans took no time in roasting the referee by changing his Wikipedia bio to read: "Wilton Pereira Sampaio (born 28 December 1981) in Teresina de Goias, Goias, Brazil) is a French fan and Brazilian football referee.
"He was recently offered sexual favours by [Kylian] Mbappe for favourable decisions to France."
But that wasn't the only edit, as prior to this it said: "Wilton Sampaio is a French fan and Brazilian football referee.
"He is currently under investigation for falsely not awarding a penalty to England after Harry Kane was assaulted."
Of course, it's since been changed back and it now simply reads: "Wilton Pereira Sampaio (born 28 December 1981 in Teresina de Goiás, Goiás) is a Brazilian football referee."
But not before the fans took a screenshot of the edits, with one sharing the evidence on Twitter and writing: "Congrats to whoever’s already corrected Sampaio’s Wikipedia page."
Another described the stunt as 'hilarious' - but not everyone agreed.
"England lost to a better team. Fact," wrote one, while another added, "It's only a game?"
Wikipedia page aside, a lot of people had a lot to say about Sampaio's performance last night, including ITV pundit Gary Neville.
Sharing some harsh words during ITV's post-match reaction, he said: "The referee I thought he had a nightmare, joke of a referee him.
"I'm not saying that was all down to England's defeat, because I think that people will say it's excuses.
"He was just a bad referee, rank bad."
Topics: Football, Harry Kane, World Cup, Sport
Daisy Phillipson