• The referee of the match between Tunisia and France (0-1), canceled the goal of Antoine Griezmann after being called by the VAR when he had already whistled the end of the match.

  • The French Football Federation has decided to lodge a complaint with FIFA.

  • For video referee Alexandre Castro, "if indeed there was a kick-off, then the final whistle, there is an error in the protocol".

  • But according to him, a certain largesse is tolerated after a whistle, such as when he awarded a penalty for OM, after the end of the match against Metz in the 2020/2021 season.

Did the referee of Tunisia - France have the right to cancel the goal of Antoine Griezmann?

This is the question that torments all of France this Thursday morning after the defeat of the France team against Tunisia (0-1) on Wednesday.

But also the French delegation present in Qatar, since the French Football Federation decided late to file a complaint with FIFA after the cancellation of Grizou's goal.



If you were in front of TF1, you are of course not concerned by this debate since the channel returned to the antenna thinking that the match was bent on this reduction in the French score, in the dying seconds of the match.

Except that the New Zealand referee Matthew Conger, was called by the video assistance just after giving the commitment, then whistled the end of the match.

To ultimately cancel the goal, due to an offside position by Antoine Griezmann.

The timing of decisions

It is not on this point that the complaint relates, since according to several arbitration sources, the French player is well offside on the center of Tchouaméni.

This point is also debatable, but the referee is entitled to consider that it is an act of play by forcing the defender to clear awkwardly with his head.

It is rather the timing of the decisions that raises questions.

According to the IFAB regulations, which define the rules of the game, Mr. Matthew Conger did not seem to have the right to reconsider his decision: “If the game resumed after having been stopped, the referee cannot carry out an analysis.

Except in the case of mistaken identity or in the case of an offense liable to exclusion such as violent behavior, spitting, biting, and/or hurtful, rude or offensive words or acts”, explains the text.

These exceptions don't concern the case of Antoine Griezmann's goal.

A precedent at Metz - OM

But according to L1 video referee Alexandre Castro, some largesse can be tolerated.

“There is a small downside to this rule, which means that if the VAR has not finished its work after kick-off, the referee can be warned and cancel the kick-off.

At that point, the referee stops everything, and lets the video assistance take the time to review everything properly, ”he says.

The video referee is well placed to talk about it, since he has already brought in the VAR, after the final whistle.

It was during the last match of the 2020/2021 season, between Metz and Olympique de Marseille, refereed by Hakim Ben El Hadj Salem.

“There is a foul on Alvaro, but he does not whistle it, and sends everyone back to the locker room.

I tell him to wait and block the players while I review everything.

There was a penalty, so things can happen after the final whistle, ”he recalls.

With the difference that the New Zealand referee from Tunisia - France first whistled the kick-off after Griezmann's goal, before whistling three times to send everyone back to the locker room.

“If indeed there was a kick-off, then the final whistle, there is an error in the protocol.

But you have to see how they are doing on the FIFA side, because the referee can very well say that his second whistle was precisely because he was called by the VAR, and the players have it taken for a final whistle,” explains Alexandre Castro.

A first for FIFA

But in the end, anyway, FIFA decides.

The world football body has already had matches replayed because of refereeing errors, but never for this specific situation of misuse of VAR.

In 2005, it had decided to replay the Uzbekistan - Bahrain match counting for the 2006 World Cup qualifiers. The penalty scored by an Uzbek player had been transformed into a free kick for Bahrain, because of another Uzbek player who had penetrated in the box too soon.

The match commissioner confirmed a technical error, and the match was replayed.

More recently, during the African qualifiers for the 2018 World Cup, the match between Senegal and South Africa was replayed a year later.

Referee Joseph Lamptey had awarded the South Africans a penalty for a non-existent Senegalese handball, which had earned him a lifetime ban from refereeing by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Situations very different from those of the match between Tunisia and France, for which Alexandre Costa advocates the cancellation of the VAR and the validation of the goal of Antoine Griezmann.

“The most logical thing, given that the referee first awarded the goal, then gave the kick-off before signaling the end of the game, would be to say that everything that comes after does not exist”.

Fifa, contacted by us, has not yet responded to the follow-up it intended to give to the complaint made by the French camp.

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  • World Cup 2022

  • Sport

  • Soccer

  • France football team

  • Video arbitration

  • Antoine Griezmann