VAR fine-tuning: what Folarin Balogun’s goal vs Bosnia could have been like for Lionel Messi in Algeria

• Folarin Balogun scored for USMNT against Bosnia-Herzegovina, and the way it was described in the broadcast is that Lionel Messi did not have a clear VAR decision in a similar situation against Algeria.
• ESPN analyst Andy Davies said that the replays show that the two forward passes were made without any offside position being involved due to the offside line being set.
• The Athletic notes that the freeze frame in VAR could change the decision; also, according to IFAB, the “check” is performed for an incident, while the decision is made based on the physical contact with the ball.

In the debate over whether VAR overturned Folarin Balogun’s goal against Bosnia-Herzegovina, media outlets pointed to the fact that Lionel Messi would have been awarded a penalty against Algeria. ESPN said that Balogun’s goal was ruled out after a serious offside call, while Messi’s goal was allowed.

In the game, according to ESPN, Messi was able to get his shot away after Algeria’s defender got into his “studs” and the contact was not enough to be considered a foul. ESPN also noted that the two forward passes were made without any offside position being involved due to the offside line being set.

ESPN’s analyst Andy Davies, who works on an 12-season list of VAR scenes in Premier League and Championship, said that the decision was made correctly. He also added that for Messi, the logic was that the defender’s studs were in contact with the ball, while for Balogun — the contact was not enough to count as a foul.

In ESPN’s analysis of the VAR role in Balogun’s goal, it was stated that the “still pics” VAR used to make its decision, showed an “unfortunate impact injury” and also, as it turned out, the contact was made after the ball had already been played. It was also stated that the VAR decision was not the same for Messi, because the VAR’s “check” was made based on the contact moment, which, according to the rules, could be different depending on the intensity of the incident.

The Athletic also argues that Balogun’s goal was allowed because, in the freeze frame, the VAR camera could have shown a different moment of contact. The outlet says that VAR’s decision to overturn the goal was based on the moment the contact occurred, and that the rules allow the decision to be made based on the contact moment.

The Athletic also notes that Balogun scored for USMNT against Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the media outlet claims that the incident was the same as VAR’s decision-making process.

Tags: Sport/Football