In the age of technological change, even in the world of football, cameras at the edge of the pitch, in slow motion, on the pitch, OR e AVAR, technology on the goal line especially in the official matches from the playoffs to the following ones World Cup 2022 there is no use of technology in favor of match officials and their assistants. And so, after the first rounds of competition, the debate has already erupted, around some controversial episodes and others, glaring, refereeing errors.

The presence of real-time slow motion on the sidelines never completely eliminated the controversy, and it was already known. But its absence seems even more serious for a football which demands competence, objectivity and balance in the decisions and judgments which often orient fate beyond a simple result. A noisy absence from the first day of the qualifying races for the following ones World Cup, but an absence that uefa he had already confirmed given the very difficult logistics management: too many appointments to follow, impossible to cover all areas with the same technology, a guarantee of its efficiency.

Article 9 of the regulations governing the use and application of technology in the world of football (“Football technologies”) emphasizes that it is up to FIFA and the various confederations to apply them or not in the context of a tournament or an event. And as for the 2022 World Cup, the OR it will only be introduced during the tournament in Qatar to the exclusion of the entire qualifying phase at least until the playoffs, the playoff matches which will award the last places to Qatar.

There was certainly no shortage of controversy – and business – with the last in chronological order having occurred during the game between Serbia and Portugal. In full recovery Cristiano Ronaldo scores the 2-3 goal but the goal is not valid despite – as shown in the slow motion images on the TV – the ball has completely crossed the goal line and the defender’s attempt to return has was in vain. For the race director, this is not the case.

The episode which took place in the Netherlands in Turkey was also striking, a dynamic which brought many Italian fans back in time to Muntari’s phantom goal at Juventus-Milan. At 45 ‘, with the hosts already ahead 2-0, de Ligt scored the possible goal of the season. The ball is taken with the head by a Turkish defender but after having crossed the line well even with the naked eye. For everyone, but not for English referee Oliver. The game will then end 4-2 for Turkey, who will also have time to go 3-0 before the oranges return partially.

Another episode that conditioned the match occurred during the match between world champions France and Ukraine, which ended 1-1. the advantage of the Blues thanks to a splendid goal scored by Griezmann did not have to be validated. If there had been the VAR, Pavard’s offside would surely have been pointed out to referee Stieler, who had sprung past the line of Shevchenko’s defenders, at the start of the long action that would then have led to the Eurogol of the edge of the zone by the “little devil” in force in Barcelona. Instead, at 19 ‘France celebrated the 1-0.

UEFA’s explanation for VAR in the World Cup qualifiers

After the controversy that erupted in the first days of the World Cup qualifiers, UEFA confided in a press release the explanation of why the use of VAR is not planned in this phase .

“In 2019, UEFA proposed to Fifa the use of VAR in qualifying for the 2022 World Cup. The impact of the pandemic on the logistical and operational aspect has led UEFA to reconsider the possibility to implement VAR in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers. VAR was not available even in the group stage of the last Nations League and in previous qualifying stages in Europe. “