Apologies for posting this in the main forum ...

Ryan Christie, Ryan Christie, Ryan Christie ... there we go, now its ICT related 😄

Do users want a separate sub forum for the World Cup (and by extension the Euros in a couple of years time hopefully) or should we simply stick with the "Other Football" category? A separate forum would allow us to keep it all in place and not get lost with other stuff, keeping it in the general football category could also be done if we just prefix every world cup thread with a tag of "world cup".

I am not bothered either way as neither is a huge task.

11 minutes ago, DoofersDad said:

It's the inconsistency that gets me. You have the officials spending time to see if there was any contact in incidents like Kane's last night or Tielemans' (which was given) and yet they refuse to get involved when players are holding opponents in bear hugs to stop them getting to the ball at set pieces.

They are ONLY allowed to review an attacking foul before the ball is in play IF it leads directly to a goal, penalty or disciplinary sanction. Have the attackers gained an advantage unfairly?

They are NOT allowed to review defensive fouls before the ball is in play because... what would you award? The ball isn't in play.

They are being consistent with the guidelines that they have been given, but you could well argue - as you have done - that the guidance itself is inconsistent.

See https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/ce8jv326d7vo , "World Cup 2026 new rules", and scroll down to "More VAR, and lots of it" .

36 minutes ago, snorbens_caleyman said:

They decided that the referee had not made a "clear and obvious" error, and so they didn't overrule him. In the short time available to them - which IS a good thing - VAR was inconclusive.

It was noted on the commentary last night that FIFA has responded to North American media queries regarding the "clear and obvious" definition and received a response that it is "not the decision that we are aiming to reach". The decision we are looking for is based on "was it the correct call?".

Overall, I think most of the VAR has been decent in this World Cup because its setup to be quick with semi-automated offside checks and other calls happening in seconds (so quick in some cases we may not even be aware it happened). I also like the quick check for a corner or goal kick and the speeding up of substitutions/throw-ins and goalkeeper throw/kick outs .... Unfortunately, however these positive tweaks will not trickle down as they are mostly "optional" and most leagues could not afford the costs that FIFA are throwing at the technology for this World Cup.

I don't like it when it takes 2-3 minutes of studying the footage from all angles as that is - by definition - not clear and obvious, but as FIFA noted, that's not the benchmark they are using ... But by saying that it then opens up a whole different can of worms.

As with VAR everywhere else, it is only as good as the officials behind the scenes and on the pitch and as others have said, that varies wildly in terms of consistency. If you are now saying the question is "Was this the correct call?" then you can look at so many incidents and ask that question. Even yesterday, that means Kane should have been booked for diving before saving their skins, and perhaps it is likely that Balogun would not have been red carded, and the USA penalty would not have been awarded - but that's all subjective. And let's not even go there on the inconsistencies in the Scotland Morocco game with the Uzbekistan ref and the worst MLS ref in the VAR booth!

17 minutes ago, snorbens_caleyman said:

They are ONLY allowed to review an attacking foul before the ball is in play IF it leads directly to a goal, penalty or disciplinary sanction. Have the attackers gained an advantage unfairly?

They are NOT allowed to review defensive fouls before the ball is in play because... what would you award? The ball isn't in play.

They are being consistent with the guidelines that they have been given, but you could well argue - as you have done - that the guidance itself is inconsistent.

See https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/ce8jv326d7vo , "World Cup 2026 new rules", and scroll down to "More VAR, and lots of it" .

The holding and shirt pulling may well start before the ball is in play but it usually continues well after the ball is back in play