Croatia out of the World Cup amid controversy: "Var kills emotions"

The match between Portugal and Croatia ended in controversy the cancellation of Gvardiol’s goal for a possible 2-2 in the 103rd minuteestablished upon “signaling” from the sensor inside the Trionda balloon.

At the end of the match, the Croatian players besieged the Norwegian referee Espen Eskas, contesting the decision that precluded him from the possibility to reach extra time. The offending action was analyzed thanks to the technology installed inside the ball.

The controversy over the disallowed goal

Before Mario Pasalic’s assist for Josko Gvardiol, author of the goal, his cross Pasalic had been touched almost imperceptibly by Igor Matanovic. A contact so slight as to be invisible to the naked eye, but detected by the sensors in the ball. That very touch gave rise to a new phase of the game. Consequently, when Pasalic returned to the action by serving Gvardiol, he was in an offside position, so the goal was correctly disallowed by regulation. Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic complained that VAR canceled out an exciting final match. “You have seen the extent to which emotions have literally been killed, these decisions leave you stunned and take the joy out of football.” “I’m not saying that sometimes VAR isn’t helpful but it kills emotions, it kills everything inside you”.

FIFA’s clarification

After the controversy, FIFA issued an official note to clarify the episode: “Based on the data provided by the Connected Ball technology integrated into the Trionda, the official match ball, it was ascertained that Matanovic touched the ball in the action that preceded the goal against Portugal. This element allowed the referee to correctly identify the offside and disallow the goal.” The press release also explains how the system works: “The IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit) sensors installed inside the Trionda balloon are able to detect even the lightest contacts. During the telecast these are represented with a heart rate-like graph, giving match officials an unprecedented level of information to make quick and accurate decisions.”

Ibrahimovic: “A full-blown theft”

Among those most angry about the episode was Zlatan Inrahimovic who, present as a TV commentator, spoke of “a great match ruined at the end by VAR” with “a full-blown theft”. “It’s clear to me that they wanted Portugal and Ronaldo to get to the round of 16 to challenge Spain,” he protested, “look at the angle: Croatia’s number 20 doesn’t touch the ball, he doesn’t change its trajectory in the slightest. It’s Veiga who touches it! How can he be offside?” “They canceled out three goals for us”, regretted Inter player Petar Sucic, “I would really like someone to explain to us what happened, there were too many dubious situations and they all turned against us”.