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Pierluigi Collina
The head of the FIFA Referees Committee, Pierluigi Collina, defended the World Cup referee, after the controversial cases, especially in the match between Egypt and Argentina.
Collina said: “No one can influence the referees, including the President of FIFA. No one can question the integrity of the World Cup match referees. Such skepticism may provoke reactions that lead to threats to them and their families, and this is unacceptable.”
He added: “Match referees make fair decisions and, like players and coaches, always strive to give their best.”
Collina touched on the controversial refereeing situation that led to the cancellation of a goal for Egypt in its match against Argentina, and said: “After each goal is scored, the video assistant referee reviews the phase of the attack, and if it is revealed that there was a violation during the construction of the attack and it is considered to have affected the goal, the video assistant referee will recommend conducting an on-field review. There is no specific limit related to the distance from the goal or the time period between the violation occurring and the goal being scored.”
Collina continued: “What happened in the match between Argentina and Egypt, where Marwan Attia clearly stepped on the foot of Lisandro Martinez of the Argentine national team.”
Regarding the second case that led to scoring the third goal for Argentina, Colina said: “Similarly, if no violation is detected during the build-up phase that led to a goal being scored, the Video Assistant Referee will inform the referee of that.”
He continued: “Stomping on the opponent’s foot is a violation, while the defender is not considered to have committed a violation if he touches the ball first and then there is a normal contact between him and the opponent that is usual in football. And again, an example of this appeared at the end of the match, as both the referee and the video assistant referee considered that the contact that occurred between Mohamed Salah and Julián Alvarez falls within the framework of normal contact that is usual in football.”
