The unexpected comment came during the launching of New York City’s new public transport initiative, “Next Stop: Better Buses, Faster Service,” when Mamdani was talking about how the project would shorten commuting times and give New Yorkers more time in their day.
The mayor spoke of how the benefit of faster bus services would be to us; the benefits of extra hours to our daily life.
"Within six months, you will have spent 24 fewer hours on the bus. By the time a year rolls around, you'll have saved more than two days of commuting time," Mamdani said.
"That means breakfast with your family. It means having time to argue balls and strikes at your kid’s Little League game. It means getting home in time for bed."
Then, with a smile, he made a surprise football reference which instantly caught the audience’s attention.
"It means you agree with your friends that Egypt was robbed yesterday. But mostly it means time is returned to the New Yorkers who don’t have nearly enough of it," he joked and laughter and applause came from the crowd.
Mamdani’s comment resonated with many Egyptian fans and football pundits who feel like their team was at the wrong end of many key refereeing decisions in the dramatic match against defending champions Argentina.
Egypt had a chance to pull off one of the biggest upsets of the tournament when they took a 2-0 lead with 10 minutes to play. But Argentina produced a late comeback to score three times in quick succession to win 3-2 and advance to the World Cup quarterfinals.
But the match has been one of the most controversial ones with some controversial officiating decisions.
The biggest talking point came when Egyptian forward Mostafa Ziko had a goal ruled out after a lengthy VAR review. According to the match officials, there had been a foul earlier in the build-up, which wiped out Egypt’s third goal and a potentially match-winning cushion.
While Egypt eventually recovered their two-goal advantage instantly after the disallowed goal and still had a two-goal lead, many fans and pundits say the disallowed goal changed the momentum of the match and gave Argentina the lifeline needed to make a comeback.
The controversy didn’t end at the final whistle. Egypt’s head coach, Hossam Hassan, and several players openly criticized the officiating, claiming that key decisions were in favor of Argentina all the time. One emotional Egyptian player even said the tournament was “fixed” and the camp was maddened after their dramatic exit.
Argentina produced one of the most amazing World Cup comebacks in history and is still in the race to win the title.
Mamdani’s comments have now brought a political voice to an already heated football debate. Argentina did win, but the refereeing decisions and whether Egypt didn’t get a fair chance of reaching the semi-finals continue to be the focus of fans all over the world.
