All Whites midfielder Matt Garbett and Football Ferns forward Jacqui Hand. Photos / Photosport
All Whites midfielder Matt Garbett and Football Ferns forward Jacqui Hand. Photos / Photosport
OPINION:
For New Zealand football fans, Tuesday night’s fractional VAR decision that ruled out Jacqui Hand’s goal against the Philippines was a weird case of deja vu.
In the 69th minute of the match, Hand looked to have scored with a looping header, only for the VAR teamto find an infringement after a prolonged check, with Hannah Wilkinson judged to be fractionally offside in the buildup.
The call was questionable, as some of the photos used by the official broadcaster seemed to show Wilkinson was level with the last defender when Ali Riley played the long pass.
The graphic released by Fifa showed a sliver of Wilkinson’s shoulder and arm in front of her opponent, though it wasn’t immediately clear where the line was drawn.
The VAR decision denied the Football Ferns an equaliser. Photo / Sky Sport
In a remarkable coincidence, the person in charge of VAR in Wellington was Abdullah Al Marri, the same Qatari official who played a key role in disallowing Chris Wood’s goal against Costa Rica in the intercontinental playoff in Doha last June.
That decision, which could have cost the All Whites a place at the 2022 Fifa World Cup, was much more contentious, as Al Marri decided that Matt Garbett had fouled a Costa Rican player in the build-up, a couple of phases before the goal, and urged UAE referee Abdulla Hassan Mohamed to check the pitchside monitor.
At the time, then All Whites coach Danny Hay described the decision as “disgusting”.
“The guy sitting up in the box, who has the ultimate power to make good quality decisions, clearly doesn’t understand football at an elite level,” Hay told the Herald at the time. “It was a tussle, two players going for the ball, it could have been a foul given against their player.”
Al Marri’s decision to intervene for Wood’s goal, while ignoring several other incidents over the 90 minutes, was confusing and indicative of his lack of experience, as he had refereed only three full international matches coming into that match.
For many observers, Al Marri’s call twisted the usual requirement of clear and obvious error by the on-field referee.
The Herald sent several questions to Fifa in the wake of that match, regarding the appointments of both Hassan Mohamed and Al Marri for such a crucial game, as well as the VAR decision, but never received a reply.
However, the Herald is aware that even within Fifa there were different opinions on that VAR decision.
Matt Garbett's challenge was ruled as a foul by VAR, which disallowed Chris Wood's goal. Photo / Sky
Al Marri was also caught up in controversy at the 2022 World Cup, for a controversial penalty referral in the Portugal v Uruguay group match, which was widely criticised, as the Uruguayan defender’s hand brushed the ball as he fell backwards inside the penalty area.
“I don’t think it is a penalty kick,” said long-time former Premier League referee Mike Dean in post-match coverage. “His arm is in a natural position, it’s not a deliberate act, he hasn’t moved his arm towards the ball. The referee should never have been invited to the monitor.”
Tuesday’s decision was less subjective, as the policing of offside relies partly on semi-automated technology.
In a statement, a Fifa spokesperson said: “Semi-automated offside technology is being used by the Video Match Officials as a supportive tool at all 2023 World Cup matches to make faster and more accurate offside decisions. It is the same technology as used at the 2022 Men’s World Cup, including 12 optical tracking cameras in each stadium and a 500Hz IMU sensor inside the match ball.”
Fifa haven’t provided details on the margin of error inherent within the semi-automated system but say it is the most accurate system available.
They add that if the technology doesn’t work correctly, the video match officials can still use other well-known offside support tools, such as crosshair or triangulation.
Al Marri was a VAR official at the Tokyo Olympics and the Qatar World Cup, as well as the 2021 Arab Cup.
But he has only refereed three senior internationals, all of them non-Fifa friendlies.
In terms of optics, the appointment of a Qatari official to a key role in a match involving the Football Ferns could be questioned.
Relations between New Zealand Football and the Qatar federation are severely strained, after the All Whites refused to continue their friendly match in June, amid allegations of racist abuse, leading to the match being abandoned.
Qatar have denied those allegations – with a counterclaim of verbal abuse – and the matter is under investigation by Fifa.
While nobody is questioning the integrity of Al Marri, Tuesday’s appointment could have made for an awkward situation, as he is an employee of both the Qatar football federation and the Qatari government.
Michael Burgess has been a sports journalist since 2005, winning several national awards and covering Olympics, Fifa World Cups and America’s Cup campaigns. A football aficionado, Burgess will never forget the noise that greeted Rory Fallon’s goal against Bahrain in Wellington in 2009.
