Croatia formally wrote to FIFA after their drama FIFA World Cup Elimination of the round of 32 against Portugal, accusing the football governing body of allowing technology to overstep its role in a match-defining decision.The Croatian Football Federation (HNS) questioned the use of advanced technology during Portugal’s 2-1 win, with their complaint centered on the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) process and the use of data generated by the Trionda match ball.Controversy erupted in stoppage time when Joško Gvardiol appeared to have scored an equalizer that would have kept Croatia’s World Cup hopes alive. Although the goal was initially awarded, referee Espen Eskås overturned the decision after an extended VAR review.The offside call was not based solely on conventional television footage. Instead, FIFA’s ball technology detected what officials determined to be a touch of Igor Matanović’s hair a minute before the ball reached Gvardiol, changing the offside calculation and resulting in the goal being disallowed.While television replays appeared to show the goal was legitimate, FIFA defended the decision by pointing to data collected by sensors embedded in the official match ball.In a statement, FIFA said: “The IMU sensors housed in the Trionda ball are able to determine any slight contact, displayed to the viewers in the broadcast as a ‘heartbeat graph’, and which allow the officials an unprecedented level of data to make quick and accurate decisions.”Croatia, however, believes the incident raises wider concerns about the direction of the office in football. The federation argues that relying on imperceptible contact detected only through technology goes beyond the intended purpose of VAR and departs from the principle of correcting only “clear and obvious” errors.The HNS complaint also challenges the decision to award Portugal a second-half penalty, which Cristiano Ronaldo converted in the 68th minute to level the game.Speaking to RTL Danas, HNS spokesman Tomislav Pacak explained why the federation had decided to escalate the matter to FIFA president Gianni Infantino.“The Croatian Football Association sent a letter to the president of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, in which we expressed our deep disappointment and disagreement with the match with Portugal, not because of the refereeing decisions as such, because they can be discussed after every match, but because of the process itself that led to these decisions.“To begin with, we believe that the VAR protocol was applied in a completely incorrect way to the penalty for Portugal, and the referee should not have been called to review the footage. And more importantly, with Guardiola’s equalizer, Pasalic was awarded offside against the rules and the spirit of football due to Matanovic’s non-existent ball game, because the sensor showed it.”Pacak stressed that Croatia is not opposed to technological innovation in football, but believes that it should not undermine the spirit of the game.“We believe that this is an abuse of technology, which we welcome in football, but we believe that this application is not beneficial for FIFA, the teams and football fans, and we know that our letter will not reduce the pain and disappointment of fans and players, but we believe that it is important to warn FIFA and ask for a detailed explanation of all decisions”, he concluded.FIFA has remained tight-lipped about the officiating process and the technology used during the match, but Croatia’s formal complaint has intensified the debate over how much technological assistance should influence crucial decisions at football’s biggest tournament.
