‘Misuse of technology’: Croatia filed an official complaint with FIFA after the controversial departure from the World Cup to Portugal | Football news

Croatian national team player Joško Guardiol (4) scored a goal against Portuguese goalkeeper Diego Costa (1), which was later called back due to a back-court decision (AP Photo)

Croatia officially wrote to FIFA after their dramatic situation FIFA World Cup Round of 32 elimination against Portugal, accusing football’s governing body of allowing technology to overstep its role in deciding the match.The Croatian Football Association (HNS) questioned the use of advanced technology during Portugal’s 2-1 win, with its complaint focusing on the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) process and the use of data generated by the Trionda match ball.Controversy developed deep into stoppage time when Josko Guardiol appeared to have scored the equalizer that would have kept Croatia’s World Cup hopes alive. Although the goal was initially awarded, referee Espen Eskås overturned the decision after an extended VAR review.The hinterland deal was not just based on conventional television footage. Instead, FIFA’s ball technology detected what officials determined to be a minute of contact with Igor Matanovic’s hair before the ball reached Guardiola, altering the offside calculation and resulting in the goal being disallowed.While television replays appeared to show the goal was legitimate, FIFA defended the decision by pointing to data collected by sensors embedded inside the official match ball.In a FIFA statement, she said: “The IMU sensors located inside the Trionda ball are capable of detecting every light contact, displayed to viewers on the broadcast as a ‘heartbeat graphic’ and providing officials with an unprecedented level of data to make quick and accurate decisions.”Croatia, however, believes that the incident raises wider concerns about the direction of refereeing in football. The federation argues that relying on imperceptible contact detected by technology alone goes beyond the purpose of VAR and departs from the principle of correcting only “clear and obvious” errors.The HNS appeal also challenges the decision to award Portugal a penalty in the second half, which Cristiano Ronaldo converted in the 68th minute to level the scores.In an interview with RTL Danas, HNS spokesman Tomislav Pacak explained why the federation decided to escalate the matter to FIFA president Gianni Infantino.“The Croatian Football Association sent a letter to FIFA President Gianni Infantino in which we express deep disappointment and disagreement with the match with Portugal, not because of the referee’s decisions as such, because they can be discussed after every match, but because of the very process that led to those decisions.“To begin with, we believe that the VAR protocol was completely wrongly applied in the penalty kick for Portugal, and the referee should not have been invited to review the footage. And what is more important, in Guardiola’s equalizing goal, Pašalić was ruled offside against the rules and the spirit of football due to the non-existent play of the ball by Matanović, because the sensor showed it.”Pacak emphasized that Croatia is not opposed to technological innovations in football, but believes that they should not violate the spirit of the game.“We believe that this is an abuse of technology that we welcome in football, but we believe that this application is not useful to FIFA, teams and football fans and we know that our letter will not reduce the pain and disappointment of fans and players, but we think it is important to warn FIFA and ask for a detailed explanation of all decisions”, he concluded.Until now, FIFA has stood by the refereeing process and the technology used during the match, but Croatia’s official appeal has intensified the debate about how much technological assistance should influence key decisions at the biggest football tournament.