FIFA Rejects Offside Claims in Qatar-Switzerland World Cup Penalty Controversy

Qatar earned a historic 1-1 draw with Switzerland on Sunday in a World Cup match that quickly became known online as the tournament’s first VAR controversy. The dispute came in the first half, when Switzerland was awarded a penalty after a clear foul by Qatar’s goalkeeper in the box, but replays appeared to show the fouled Swiss player was offside when moving to the ball.

Despite that suspicion, the VAR room did not call the referee to review the incident. The broadcast also did not show proof, through its special animation, that the attacker was not offside. The penalty stood, and Breel Embolo scored Switzerland’s opening goal.

Hours after the match, FIFA released its own evidence and said there had been no offside. In its explanation, FIFA said, “During the match, a brief technical issue prevented the creation of the graphic animation for determining the offside line before the penalty decision in Switzerland’s favor in the 14th minute. The issue was resolved quickly, and the VAR workflow was not affected by this malfunction and proceeded according to the regular procedure in reviewing the on-field referee’s decision. The lines used by the VAR officials to examine the relevant players’ positions did not show that the attacking player was in an offside position in either of the two situations immediately preceding the penalty decision.”

Still, some outlets that cover the laws of the game and VAR criticized the decision and blamed a SAOT error. Archivo VAR wrote that it was “a FIFA blunder,” saying the published image with the drawn lines appeared to show the attacker’s foot on the line while the defender’s foot was not touching it.