FIFA has attributed the controversy surrounding a penalty awarded to Switzerland during their 1-1 draw against Qatar on Saturday to a “technical outage.”
The penalty, successfully converted by Breel Embolo, was awarded following a foul on Remo Freuler, with both players being deemed marginally onside during the buildup.
However, the television broadcast failed to display the standard 3D graphic that verifies offside decisions, and with replays unclear, the incident has faced backlash from fans and experts.
A statement from FIFA on social media explained, “During the Qatar vs. Switzerland match in the San Francisco Bay Area, a brief technical outage prevented the onside animation graphic from being generated prior to the penalty awarded to Switzerland in the 14th minute. The issue was quickly resolved.”
The statement, released more than four hours post-incident, included images purporting to show that both Freuler and Embolo were onside prior to the penalty, with lines that appear to have been drawn by VAR. However, the 3D graphic itself remains unavailable.
“The VAR workflow was not impacted by this issue and adhered to standard procedures in reviewing the on-field decision,” the statement added.
“The lines utilized by the VAR confirmed that neither of the attacking players were in an offside position in the two situations leading up to the penalty decision.”
Commenting as a pundit for ITV, Gary Neville compared FIFA’s actions to a dictatorship, saying, “We all think it’s offside and so does everyone at home. FIFA has the evidence for the automated decision—why are they not showing it to us?”
“They did the same thing at the last tournament. Fans are already skeptical. There’s a significant doubt regarding that decision because it seems offside unless proven otherwise.” He added, “It’s like a dictatorship in that they possess this evidence but refuse to share it with fans. It’s absurd. Prove that it’s offside. Where’s the transparency?”
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Ian Wright, also on ITV, remarked: “They operate as they please. This is scandalous.”
Qatar’s equalizer in the 94th minute resulted in the match concluding in a 1-1 draw.