Over the line? Japan goal adds fuel to VAR debate

DOHA : England's fiercely disputed third goal in the 1966 World Cup final was often cited as the kind of incident that VAR would erase from the game forever but Japan's victory over Spain on Thursday triggered a new "was it over the line?" debate.

Kaoru Mitoma's cutback for Ao Tanaka to give Japan a 2-1 lead was initially adjudged by the referee to have been from outside the field of play but the official reversed his decision after a lengthy VAR consultation.

TV and still pictures immediately swamped the internet apparently showing clear green grass between the ball and the line before winger Mitoma was able to play it back to his team mate.

Retired Spanish referee Iturralde Gonzalez, however, said such incidents were not always clear to the naked eye and expressed his full confidence in FIFA's technology.

"It is a matter of perspective, making the images very tricky. The perspective that is clear is from above, and the belly of the ball is very big," he said.

"If there's a little of it inside the pitch, it's in play. Everyone can take and use the photo they want, it doesn't matter, but the ball didn't go out."

While the laws require part of the ball to be on the line to remain in play, that does not mean it has to be touching the ground as the curvature of the ball overhanging the white stripe also counts.

As with Geoff Hurst's strike at Wembley 56 years ago, the country which the decision impacted most was Germany, who would have progressed to the last 16 if the Japan-Spain match had finished as a 1-1 draw but instead went home.

FIFA, who declined to comment on the incident on Friday, have invested heavily in VAR technology since introducing it at the World Cup four years ago in Russia.

The match ball now contains a chip that