{"id":2808,"date":"2016-05-10T23:39:39","date_gmt":"2016-05-10T18:09:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=2808"},"modified":"2016-05-10T23:39:39","modified_gmt":"2016-05-10T18:09:39","slug":"var-fifa-world-cup-2018-germany-russia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/13.207.105.184\/?p=2808","title":{"rendered":"France vs Croatia: Should VAR Have Won the Man of the Match at the World Cup Final?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

T<\/span><\/p>he score was 1-1. The final between France and Croatia was turning out to be a nail-biter, an own goal followed by a wonder goal, keeping up with the reputation of it being an wild\u00a0World Cup<\/a>. One wouldn\u2019t expect anything less in Putin\u2019s Russia.<\/span>\n\nAfter Mario Mand\u017euki\u0107 headed the ball into his own net, the Croatians<\/a> hit back with a thumping strike from Ivan Peri\u0161i\u0107 from the edge of the box. But happiness turned into despair for Peri\u0161i\u0107 moments later as Antoine Griezmann\u2019s corner on the other side of the pitch struck the Inter Milan midfielder on his arms as he struggled to clear the ball.<\/span>\n\nThe referee had missed it, and it seemed like play would continue. It would have, in any World Cup from 1930 to 2014, for the referee<\/a> had only one view of the action and if you missed it in the moment, you have missed it forever. However, this World Cup will go down in history. The referee had a friend in technology who didn\u2019t miss anything. VAR was like a God and it was time for intervention.<\/span>\n\nThe French players surrounded the referee like pedestrians on Indian roads after an accident and the Argentinian official started to whisper into his tiny microphone, communicating with the tech nerds from the VAR room. He made the signal with his hands which we\u2019re all too familiar with from the game of cricket<\/a> – VAR was to play a part in the biggest game of the tournament. It had knocked Germany out in the group stages, proving to be decisive in big moments. What was going to happen next?<\/span>\n\nAs footage rolled on from different angles, Croatian fans had their hearts in their mouth. The ball had definitely struck his arm, but was it intentional? How would the referee interpret it?\u00a0N\u00e9stor Pitana was more under more pressure than the kid who has to make it to the DU cut-off list. It seemed like he had made a decision and as he walked away, he decided to have another look, just to be sure. It wasn\u2019t merely the players who were feeling the heat in Moscow. \u00a0<\/span>\n\nIn that moment, something remarkable had just happened. The referee got multiple views of an action he had missed. On watching it over and over again, he could make a \u201cbetter\u201d<\/span>decision. It had never happened\u00a0 in a World Cup final before.\n\nThe ball didn\u2019t have any significant deflection, and it directly hit Peri\u0161i\u0107\u2019s arm, which was away from his body and slightly in the air. The rules of the game were clear. The referee pointed to the penalty spot. It was a big moment in a final. Griezmann scored from the spot and the French ran riot with a 4-2 victory. VAR had its say in the World Cup final in its introductory year. \u00a0<\/span>\n\nLike it or hate it, this is the time for VAR.\n\nRemember that time in college when you thought letting your jeans<\/a> slide under your chappals was cool? Don\u2019t you wish you could review that decision? Or the time you decided to pursue engineering, which crushed your childhood dream of becoming a musician? Rahul Gandhi<\/a> probably wishes he could review every single word that comes out of his mouth. People make mistakes, and to be able to reflect on them and correct ourselves is an underappreciated luxury.\n\nUntil a few years back, football referees never enjoyed this luxury. The football pitch was like North Korea<\/a> and the referee was its Kim Jong-un. His decision was final, for better or worse. If he accidentally booked the wrong player, that\u2019s how it would stay forever. Would Maradona<\/a> have been the legend he is, without the famous 1986 \u201cHand of God\u201d goal as part of his legacy? While Argentina won the quarter-final, and the World Cup, their opponent in that fateful game, England<\/a>, was unfairly knocked out. They haven\u2019t won a tournament since. This is something VAR could have helped with, and perhaps football history would have looked different today.\n\nIn that sense, being a football referee is like being a DU aspirant<\/a> \u2013 no matter how hard you try, it is never going to be enough. Nobody is going to talk about the nine out of ten decisions you got right, but the one you missed in that split second. Like the time Frank Lampard was denied a goal against Germany in 2010 or Carlos Galo\u2019s rugby tackle on Bruno Bellone in the 1986 World Cup that didn\u2019t invite the referee\u2019s wrath.\n\nAt the 2014 World Cup, the referee was given a friend in goal line technology. It\u2019s resounding success upon implementation caused tech nerds<\/a> around the world to have a collective orgasm. The franchise has been extended and video assistant referee (VAR) made its debut at the 2018 World Cup in Russia. What\u2019s next, the technophobes are asking, AI<\/a> to replace players, referees, and fans by 2026?\n\nTo say VAR has divided the footballing world would be an understatement. It has received more hate from all quarters than the BMC<\/a> gets from Mumbaikars. Football pundit Gary Neville insinuated that VAR isn\u2019t \u201cfit for the purpose\u201d, Iran manager Carlos Queiroz suggested it is \u201charming the prestige of the game\u201d, Morocco\u2019s<\/a> Nordin Amrabat called it \u201cbullshit\u201d, and Twitter declared that \u201cVAR is a joke\u201d.\n

VAR will keep getting better as technology and the game keeps evolving.<\/blockquote>\nOf course, VAR is not perfect. Perhaps it can never be, because it involves human interpretation at some level. Whether it\u2019s a handball in the penalty box or a KJo dance at Sonam Kapoor\u2019s<\/a> wedding, beauty \u2013 and guilt \u2013 lie in the eyes of the beholder. Even after tech nerds from the control room guide us through 33 different camera angles, different referees might perceive the same footage differently.\n\nVAR will keep getting better as technology and the game keeps evolving. Barely 20 years back, we had to wait for the orange light on our Kodak camera to blink before clicking a photo but we can now take 30 selfies<\/a> a second. VAR \u2013 even in its existing state \u2013 has gotten it right most of the time, as Russia 2018 broke the record for most penalties awarded in the group stages of a World Cup. On at least three occasions, VAR was used to check if a goal has been scored \u2013 Diego Costa for Spain versus Portugal (given), Saeid Ezatolahi for Iran v Spain (ruled out), Aspas for Argentina versus Morocco (given) \u2013 and a correct decision was taken. For a technology that can\u2019t be perfect, that\u2019s all you can ask for\u2026 to get it right most of the time.\n\nHowever, we must not forget the purpose of this exercise: to serve justice<\/a>. When the official strides off for what feels like 400 years, and the players on the pitch are standing around with the same expression of a below-average student awaiting his SSC results<\/a>, \u201cChutiye ref ne game bigaad diya,\u201d should not be the takeaway for the fan. If it takes a minute, or two, or five, to take a correct call, the pain is worth suffering.\n\nThat\u2019s what all of this is about, to ensure that the fair thing is done; for fans, players, and countries that have a lot invested in this game. Millions tune in to their TV sets every night at the cost of falling asleep on their work desk the following day, thousands flock the stadiums with lifesize cutouts of missing friends<\/a>, Neymar<\/a> and Pogba have special haircuts; that\u2019s how much all of this matters.\n\nSo, we should say yes to VAR. At least give it a chance. We can rectify the niggles, have faster turnaround times, and improve the rules as we use it more often. It\u2019s like having sex, we\u2019ll get better at it the more we do it.\n\nBesides, as a wise soul once put it, \u201cEverything is fair in love and VAR.\u201d\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Everything is fair in love and VAR. This was true at the World Cup final between France and Croatia where a controversial VAR decision tilted the game in the favour of Les Bleus.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":164,"featured_media":2809,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[394],"tags":[5695,3347,1269,5504,396,5523,5696,5591,5697,5698,5699,5700,1274],"class_list":["post-2808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-worldcup","tag-argentina","tag-england","tag-fifa","tag-football","tag-germany","tag-knock-out","tag-mexico","tag-off-side","tag-referee","tag-sweden-south-korea","tag-var","tag-world-cup"],"yoast_head":"\nFrance vs Croatia: Should VAR Have Won the Man of the Match at the World Cup Final?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Everything is fair in love and VAR. This was true at the World Cup final between France and Croatia where a controversial VAR decision tilted the game in the favour of Les Bleus.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=2808\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"France vs Croatia: Should VAR Have Won the Man of the Match at the World Cup Final?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Everything is fair in love and VAR. This was true at the World Cup final between France and Croatia where a controversial VAR decision tilted the game in the favour of Les Bleus.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/?p=2808\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Arr\u00e9\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-05-10T18:09:39+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/13.201.39.237\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/1530172538-1024x573.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"573\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Hardik Rajgor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"France vs Croatia: Should VAR Have Won the Man of the Match at the World Cup Final?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Everything is fair in love and VAR. 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