The Handball Controversy in Yesterday’s WC Final & Why It Warrants a VAR

2018-07-16 , 3:56 pm

Yesterday (16 July) was a great day, and I’m not saying that because I got lucky last night.

Rather, it was a great day because it was the day we saw France defeat opponents Croatia to attain the prestigious World Cup 2018 trophy.

But as honourable as the day was, one thing stuck out like a mangled head in a bed of headless corpses:

The handball controversy… that arguably swung the tide in France’s favour.

Handball

The score was 1-1; Croatia had just equalised, and the match was shaping up to be a really intense one.

Then came the 33rd minute, and France’s Antoine Griezmann whips in a cross from the corner flag.

Blaise Matuidi of France tries to get to it but failed to make decent contact with the ball. The ball rolls out of play, and it seems like the goalkeeper’s going to retrieve the ball for a goal kick.

But wait, what’s this?

The France players are calling for a handball?

Camera footage rewinds, and we see a different angle of the entire play. As we watch, Croatia’s Ivan Perisic indeed seems to have gotten a “touch” on the ball before Matuidi sends it out of play.

Video Assistant Referee

The Video Assistant Referee (VAR) has been a great help to referees so far, and this time’s no different. The camera zooms in on the referee as he runs pitch-side for a quick look at his monitor.

The tension can be felt, even if I was technically at home watching it through an electric box. Croatia fans waited with bated breaths, while over on the other side, France fans fervently hoped that the referee prefers french fries over skewers.

The referee stares at the VAR for a long time.

And then suddenly he does a 180-degree pirouette and heads back down the pitch.

So what’s the decision? Penalty or no penalty?

I swallow as the referee looks ahead with intent purpose in his eyes. I gulp as his manly arms begin to flex and pump.

Before I knew it, his arm was straight and directed towards the box. It was a penalty.

We all know what happened after that; Antoine Griezmann coolly slots the ball to the left of the keeper, and France would score two more to make it 4 before Croatia grabbed a consolation goal at the end.

4-2, the final score reads. France is walking away with the World Cup 2018, and Croatia would have to settle for second best this time around, though I’m sure it’s still far beyond what they originally set out for.

But really, you can’t help but wonder what the outcome of the match could have been, had the VAR not been called into action and play resumed with the goalkeeper in tow.

Why it warranted the VAR

Handball isn’t singular; it actually comes in two forms:

Deliberate, and ball-to-hand.

The first one is as the name implies: the player handled the ball with a clear intention to deviate it from its original course.

The second one’s also as the name implies: it just sort of worked out that way, and the player normally possessed no real intentions to mishandle the ball’s course.

Incidentally, the first one’s clear cut: penalty, no questions asked. The second one, however, is more diverse, with referees sometimes paying the benefit of the doubt and closing one eye to it.

As such, France vs Croatia was a no-brainer: the VAR had to be called into play. The referee probably had an inkling that Perisic had indeed touched the ball, but he had no way of knowing whether it was intentional or unintentional unless he has photographic memory. As such the only way to was to summon Mr VAR, which promptly convinced the ref to award the decision in France’s favour.

Raging debate

The match might have ended, but the debate has not. Indeed, people are still arguing over the controversial issue online, and whether the penalty should have indeed been that. A penalty.