FIFA have explained the controversial VAR decision in Switzerland’s draw with Qatar, which sparked a furious rant from ITV pundit Gary Neville.
In an early shock result at the World Cup, Switzerland were held to a 1-1 draw by Qatar, having taken the lead through a 17th minute penalty.
That penalty was won after Breel Embolo headed the ball down to Remo Freuler who got to the ball before the goalkeeper and was taken out.
There was immediate controversy, though, as Freuler appeared to be marginally offside on the replays shown on television.
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No offside was given and a replay with the lines drawn on to prove why that decision was made was now shown.
Neville was on punditry duty and was baffled as to why the evidence was not being produced.
‘FIFA are the host broadcaster, they’ve got the evidence of the automatic decision which they can show us,’ he said on ITV. ‘Why are they not showing us?
‘They did this in the last tournament, fans are already distrusting of FIFA and technology to start with.
‘There is a massive question mark over that, because that is offside in my eyes, until they prove me different.’
He went further, adding: ‘It’s like a dictator. Honestly, it’s a dictatorship, this. The idea that they hold this evidence internally and don’t show fans of countries that are playing in tournaments. It’s absolutely ridiculous.
‘Honestly to not show the evidence of an offside… Prove to us it’s offside. Show it straight away. Why not the transparency?’
FIFA have since explained that the failure to show the replay was due to a technical error, but the VAR process was carried out as normal.
A statement posted on social media read: ‘During the Qatar vs. Switzerland match in the San Francisco Bay Area, a brief technical outage prevented the onside animation graphic from being generated ahead of the penalty awarded to Switzerland in the 14th minute. The issue was quickly resolved.
‘The workflow of the VAR was not affected by this issue and followed the normal procedure in checking the on-field decision.
‘The lines used by the VAR to check the position of the relevant players did not show the attacking player to be in an offside position in either of the two situations immediately before the penalty decision.’
Switzerland finished the game with 68 per cent possession and 26 shots to Qatar’s six, but the spoils were shared.
A Boualem Khoukhi header deep into stoppage time saw the underdogs grab a point against the run of play and give them hope of making it out of the group stage.
It is the second 1-1 draw in this group after Canada vs Bosnia-Herzegovina ended in the same scoreline.