World Cup VAR farce as officials change their mind to disallow goal
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The latest 2022 World Cup controversy cropped up during Argentina’s Group C opener against Saudi Arabia on Tuesday morning after the VAR seemingly allowed a goal before changing their mind. Lautaro Martinez thought he had fired the South Americans into an early two-goal lead before being bizarrely denied.
Argentina would’ve been eyeing a statement-making romp in their curtain-raiser against the world No 51-ranked nation. And despite Lionel Messi slotting home a 10th-minute penalty to send Lionel Scaloni’s side into half-time 1-0 ahead, three disallowed goals for offside left them frustrated.
The linesman ruled out Messi’s second just minutes after his opener, but the main controversy lied with Martinez’s delicate chip on the half-hour mark. It seemed like VAR had allowed the goal after the flag stayed down and Argentina returned to their own half, but a late decision denied the Inter Milan forward.
ITV1 co-commentator Lee Dixon even said: “Well, they’ve just said on our monitor, ‘VAR check – GOAL’, and then they’ve changed their mind.” But FIFA later published images of their semi-automated system discovering Martinez’s arm had strayed in an offside position when the ball was played.
The 2022 World Cup was already wrapped in controversy ahead of Sunday’s big kick-off due to the nature of Qatar’s successful host bid in 2010 and numerous issues outside of football. And the tournament’s opening games haven’t helped simmer the headlines due to a handful of disputable talking points.
The tight semi-automated VAR calls, increased stoppage time and exaggerated attendance figures have all raised mass debate among fans. But while the Martinez decision looks to be correct, officials will garner criticism for changing their minds so long after awarding the goal.