VAR stirs up drama and endless debate

The video assistant referee (VAR) has grabbed centre stage at the World Cup, with the system that was supposed to provide minimum interference instead having a major and highly controversial impact.

The final games in Group B on Monday were heading into injury time with Portugal on course to top their group and Spain set to finish second, when the advice of the VAR officials in two separate games changed everything.

In Kaliningrad, Spain were awarded an equaliser to snatch a 2-2 draw against Morocco when an Iago Aspas goal was given after VAR helped Uzbek referee Ravshan Irmatov to reverse a mistaken offside call.

At the same time in Saransk, Paraguay official Enrique Caceres was persuaded to give Iran a penalty for a handball by Portugal’s Cedric Soares that could hardly be considered deliberate. Karim Ansarifard netted the spot-kick, earning Iran a 1-1 draw, and relegating the European champions to second place in the section.

Now Cristiano Ronaldo and his team must face Uruguay.

In contrast, Spain will probably be happier with a tie against hosts Russia in Moscow and could now have a theoretically easier path to the final.

That hardly sits well with Fifa’s statement as it introduced the new system to the biggest tournament on Earth, saying: “Our goal is minimum interference for maximum benefit.”

Of course, that was a reference to the flow of the game itself rather than the potential impact decisions could have further down the line.

Morocco’s Noureddine Amrabat made clear his feelings at the end of Monday’s game as he looked into a television camera and mouthed: “VAR, it’s bulls***”. –