FIFA has rejected France’s challenge over the VAR ruling disallowing Antoine Griezmann’s injury-time goal in their 1-0 loss to Tunisia.
Despite the fact that defender Montassar Talbi headed the ball before it fell to France forward Antoine Griezmann in the 98th minute of the last group game, the goal was controversially disallowed for offside after a VAR review.
The France protest, however, was not about the offside ruling per se, but rather about a VAR protocol violation, which rendered the review invalid because referee Matthew Conger had already began play with the kickoff.
Conger blew a single, brief whistle to signal kickoff and a second, longer whistle to signal the end of the game. The review was allowed if the referee had blown for full-time following the goal. However, the kick-off nullifies the review because play cannot be stopped and then resumed after a decision has been made.
Because the change in outcome would not have affected either team’s final group standings, France was furious and requested that the goal be recognized and the final score be modified to a 1-1 tie as a matter of principle.
We are writing a complaint after Antoine Griezmann’s goal was, in our opinion, wrongly disallowed, the FFF said in a statement last Wednesday. This complaint must be made within 24 hours of the last whistle.
The FIFA disciplinary committee didn’t respond for another five days, with a short statement dismissing the appeal.
It read: “The FIFA Disciplinary Committee has dismissed the protest submitted by the French Football Association in relation to the Tunisia v. France FIFA World Cup match played on Nov. 30.”
No further information was offered.
However, VAR Protocol, contained within the Laws of the Game, specifically states that a result should stand if there has been such a VAR error. It reads: “In principle, a match is not invalidated because of … review(s) of a non-reviewable situation/decision.”