Croatia have formally written to FIFA following their dramatic FIFA World Cup Round of 32 elimination against Portugal, accusing football’s governing body of allowing technology to overstep its role in a match-defining decision.The Croatian Football Federation (HNS) has questioned the use of advanced technology during Portugal’s 2-1 victory, with its complaint centred on the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) process and the use of data generated by the Trionda match ball.The controversy unfolded deep into stoppage time when Joško Gvardiol appeared to have scored an equaliser 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 on conventional television footage alone. Instead, FIFA’s ball technology detected what officials determined to be a minute touch from Igor Matanović’s hair before the ball reached Gvardiol, changing the offside calculation and resulting in the goal being disallowed.While television replays appeared to show the goal as legitimate, FIFA defended the decision by pointing to the data collected by sensors embedded inside the official match ball.In a statement, FIFA said: “IMU sensors housed within the Trionda ball are capable of determining any slight contact, displayed to viewers in the broadcast as a ‘heartbeat graphic,’ and allowing officials an unprecedented level of data to make fast, accurate decisions.”Croatia, however, believes the incident raises wider concerns about the direction of officiating in football. The federation argues that relying on imperceptible contact detected only through technology goes beyond VAR’s intended purpose and moves away 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 scores.Speaking to RTL Danas, HNS spokesperson 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 FIFA President Gianni Infantino in which we expressed 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 those decisions.“To begin with, we believe that the VAR protocol was completely incorrectly applied to the penalty kick 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 spirit of football due to Matanovic’s non-existent ball play, because the sensor showed so.”Pacak stressed that Croatia is not opposed to technological innovation in football but believes 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 to FIFA, 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 request a detailed explanation of all decisions,” he concluded.FIFA has so far stood by the officiating process and the technology used during the match, but Croatia’s formal complaint has intensified debate over how far technological assistance should influence crucial decisions at football’s biggest tournament.
