The match between Qatar and Switzerland at the World Cup was overshadowed by a controversial decision by the referee team, who awarded an easy penalty to the Swiss, from which the Europeans also opened the scoring.
It ended 1-1 in this surprising match from Group B at the World Cup, and FIFA issued a comprehensive press release after the game explaining what happened, as on replays, the lines drawn from the VAR room were not visible in a phase that initially seemed offside.
Freuler reached the ball in the 14th minute, Qatar's goalkeeper rushed out and committed a foul, the referee pointed to the spot with VAR, but the phase seemed suspicious due to an offside. And considering that the VAR lines were not visible on replays, FIFA felt the need to intervene in this matter.
"During the match between Qatar and Switzerland, held in the San Francisco Bay area, a brief technical interruption prevented the generation of 3D graphics (animation) for the offside before the penalty awarded to Switzerland in the 14th minute. The issue was quickly resolved.
This issue did not affect the Video Assistant Referee's (VAR) activity, which followed the standard procedure in verifying the decision made on the field. The lines used by VAR to check the position of the relevant players did not indicate that the attacker was in an offside position in either of the two situations immediately preceding the penalty decision," FIFA stated in the press release.
Qatar equalized in extra time, and Switzerland drops two crucial points in a group that promises to be tough. Both opening matches ended 1-1, following yesterday's Canada - Bosnia game.
D.A.