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▲ Pierluiki Collina, FIFA Referee Chairman


In the 2022 Qatar World Cup, where the round of 16 brackets are being drawn one by one, video review (VAR) is showing great power as a variable in winning and losing.



As a result of culling cases of repeated judgments among the 44 games of the 2022 Qatar World Cup that continued until dawn today (2nd), it was tallied that 22 judgments had been reversed so far.



This is only a selection of 'cases in which VAR changed the decision', and 'VAR reading' after Mohamed Salisu's first goal in the match between Korea and Ghana is not included in the tally.



In Ghana's first goal scene, there was a scene where the ball hit the arm of a Ghanaian player inside the penalty area, but through VAR confirmation, it was judged that it was not intentional and the centrifugal score was maintained, so it was not included in the case where VAR changed the decision.



Considering the number of cases where Ghana's first goal was recognized as a foul at the time and Korea was able to take a penalty kick, it is clear that the role of VAR plays an important enough role to decide the win or loss.



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In fact, VAR even helped Japan advance to the round of 16.



Japan won 2-1 come-from-behind victory against Spain in Group E match between Japan and Spain held at the Khalifa International Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar early in the morning on the 2nd.



With the score tied 1-1 in the second half, Japan miraculously scored an extra goal to make it 2-1.



Even when watching the video of the situation just before the cross on a slow screen, it looked like the ball had gone out, and the lineman also raised a flag that the ball had gone out, but as a result of the VAR reading, 'the ball didn't go completely out of line' and Japan scored like a thousand gold.



If this goal was disallowed and the game ended in a 1-1 draw, the tickets to the round of 16 of Group E would go to Spain and Germany.



This is not the only match where VAR has mixed joys and sorrows.



Today (2nd), as the judgment was overturned three times in the early morning game, the soccer fans of the country went back and forth between heaven and hell.



In the match between Germany and Costa Rica, in the 44th minute of the second half, Germany's Niklas Funkruq scored to make it 4-2, but at this time the referee judged it to be offside, and the goal was eventually recognized after seeing VAR.



In the match between Croatia and Belgium, a penalty kick was declared for Croatia in the 15th minute of the first half, but the penalty kick was canceled when a Croatian player was caught offside through VAR.



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Of course, there were moments when the VAR's decision was not followed.



In the match between Denmark and Tunisia held on the 22nd of last month, during extra time in the second half, the ball hit the arm of Tunisian defender Yashin Marja and sent a sign to the referee in the VAR room. The advice of the VAR room was not adopted.



This is the only case in this tournament where the fouls caught by VAR were not applied to the actual judgment.



Regarding the growing power of VAR, ESPN, a sports media outlet, pointed out, "In this tournament, FIFA is not giving enough explanation to fans about overturning decisions through VAR."



ESPN pointed out the direction of improvement, saying, "In the English Premier League, related data are shared with broadcasters when reading VAR, but FIFA does not provide clear evidence."



(Photo = Getty Image Korea, AP, Yonhap News)