FIFA airbrush VAR farce

THE TV highlights of Portugal v Iran provided by FIFA’s world feed showed the VAR reviews of the two penalty incidents, but made no mention of the one in which Cristiano Ronaldo escaped a red card for an elbow and throwing a punch that missed.

It gives support to Iran coach and former Manchester United assistant Carlos Queiroz’s view that Ronaldo receives special treatment from FIFA. lack of superstars in the England squad is understood to have made it easier for Gareth Southgate and his assistants to go though the set-piece drills that are so important to their game plan. Meanwhile, it has emerged that Southgate delighted a fans’ forum held at Elland Road when asked why his team were playing a warm-up game in Leeds. Southgate replied that most England fans were from the north and he lived in Harrogate.