FIFA Attributes Croatia's Disallowed Goal to Ball Sensor Technology

FIFA justified the annulment of a late Croatian goal that would have tied the match against Portugal in the dying moments of their round of 32 World Cup game on Thursday, citing the presence of sensors embedded in the ball capable of detecting even the slightest contact.

Croatian players believed they had scored the equalizer when Josko Gvardiol nudged the ball into the net in the 13th minute of stoppage time in Toronto.

However, the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) overturned the goal after an electronic chip inside the ball registered a slight touch from Croatian forward Igor Matanovic’s hair, at a moment when Mario Pasalic was in an offside position during the play, resulting in a 2-1 victory for Portugal.

FIFA stated after the match: “According to data provided by the connected technology integrated into the Adidas Trionda ball, the official ball of the World Cup matches, it was confirmed that the ball was touched by Croatian player number 20, Igor Matanovic, during the build-up against Portugal, which allowed the referee to correctly determine the offside situation and disallow the goal.”

The statement added: “The Trionda ball contains IMU sensors capable of detecting any slight contact, which is displayed to viewers as a pulse graph during broadcasts, giving referees an unprecedented level of data to make fast and accurate decisions.”

Croatia’s coach Zlatko Dalic criticized the VAR technology, saying it “steals the joy from football.”

When asked if he believed VAR and technology have gone too far in football, Dalic generally agreed.

He said at a press conference, according to a FIFA translation: “You saw how emotions were literally killed, and generally these decisions take you backwards and rob football of its enjoyment.”

He added: “I’m not saying VAR can’t be useful sometimes, but it kills emotions, kills everything inside you, kills what you live for, and it’s not easy to deal with all of this.”

The “connected ball” technology used to disallow Gvardiol’s goal was previously employed during this World Cup edition in the group stage match between Sweden and Tunisia last month.

On that occasion, a goal by Mattias Svanberg was disallowed for offside before VAR reversed the decision after it was found that the ball had slightly touched his teammate Alexander Isak.

Portugal’s coach Roberto Martinez stated there was no controversy regarding Croatia’s disallowed goal.

He said: “The message is very clear: the ball now contains an electronic chip, and it is very clear, which is why VAR intervened.”

He continued: “There is no personal opinion; the chip shows there was a touch by Matanovic, and when that happens, Pasalic is in an offside position.”

Martinez concluded: “It is unfortunate that a team had to lose today, but there was no bad or unlucky decision, it was clear and technology helped. We were lucky at one point, but it was a clear moment.”