Controversial Decision from Referee in Croatia VS Belgium Match

VIVA – The 2022 World Cup Group F match between Croatia and Belgium took place at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan, Qatar on Thursday night, December 1, 2022, and was colored by controversy. Especially on the decision of referee Anthony Taylor from England.

The referee in this match blew the whistle and awarded a penalty to the Croatian National Team in the 15^th  minute because the Belgian national team player, Yannick Carrasco did offense to Andrej Kramaric.

Even though the captain of Croatia, Luka Modric has placed the ball at the spot. He was ready to face Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.

After monitoring VAR, Anthony Taylor decided to change the penalty decision for Croatia. The reason is, before the offense occurred, Dejan Lovren was in an offside position.

Many Croatian players protested against the VAR decision. But in the end, they had to accept and continue to compete.

On social media, many people discussed the moment, because in the live streaming, no VAR impressions appeared. Then, as quoted from ESPN, Taylor's decision was finally taken based on the semi-automatic technology implemented by FIFA to oversee the game.

This semi-automatic technology has been introduced before the 2022 World Cup begins. FIFA Referee Chief Pierluigi Collina said this technology would be very precise and accurate.

Later, a 3D image will appear as a reference. The position of the player will be visible, whether there are body parts that precede the opponent. From the 3D image, the moment Lovren was caught offside was seen from the shoulder more forward than Belgian defender Jan Vertonghen.

The debate about this does not necessarily stop when the 3D offside image comes out. Because it barely looks like Lovren's shoulder is further forward than Vertonghen's. Luckily for Croatia, the game against Belgium ended in a goalless draw. They have the right to advance to the last 16 of the 2022 World Cup.

Croatia became runners-up in Group F with five points. While Belgium has four points in third place. The group winners are Morocco with a total of seven points.