By
Fawaz Adebisi
The Sun has reported that France asked FIFA to change the outcome of their final group game because Tunisia began playing before their “equalizer” was ruled invalid.
When Antoine Griezmann scored in the eighth of stoppage time, he believed he had saved a point.
However, the disputed offside call was overturned after New Zealand referee, Matthew Conger, blew the final whistle.
Griezmann did not compete for the ball after Aurelien Tchouameni lofted it into the Tunisia box as he was returning from an offside position.
Then Tunisian defender Montassar Talbi rose to head clear, but failed and left the ball on Griezmann’s doorstep for the goal.
Conger blew the final whistle a few seconds after a dejected Tunisia kicked off to restart play.
He was first made aware of the potential offside at that point by Qatari VAR Abdullah al-Marri, who claimed that Talbi had not “deliberately” played the ball in such a way as to put Griezmann on the wrong side of the goal.
That in itself was a problematic decision because Talbi wasn’t under any pressure, had the option of letting the ball go out of play, and merely timed his leap and header poorly.
Conger, however, supported the VAR’s decision to void the goal, arguing that it was clearly given in violation of Ifab guidelines regarding what constitutes a handball offense. The VAR also helped award the penalty for Portugal’s second goal against Uruguay.
Decisions CAN be overturned under VAR rules after the final whistle; Manchester United was given a match-winning penalty against Brighton in that situation last season.
However, it is apparent from the rules that once play resumes after a pause, no decisions can be changed.
The FA chiefs are reportedly determined to make sure Fifa capitulates and officially changes a 1-0 loss into a 1-1 draw. This is the crux of the French protest.
As of now, Conger and Al-Marri both run a significant risk of being eliminated from the World Cup when the officials’ cut is announced tomorrow after the conclusion of the group stage.
For the hosts, however, whose team was eliminated after two games and whose official on-field participation at the World Cup would be finished by such a judgment, that would be embarrassing.
