Panama’s controversial equalizer against Costa Rica has drawn the attention of FIFA’s president.
Los Canaleros booked their World Cup place on Tuesday with a late Roman Torres winner against Costa Rica, but it’s an equalizing Blas Perez finish that remains a talking point across world soccer. In the second half, Panama was awarded a goal on a scramble sequence, one which appears to have never had the ball cross the line.
FIFA president Gianni Infantino has stated his belief in VAR many times, and he believes Tuesday’s result was just another example of how important it is.
“When you play a World Cup qualification game and that game is decided by a major error of interpretation by the referee, which can happen because they’re human beings like everyone else, then it is time to rectify things,” Infantino said.
“When the whole world has seen it in just a few seconds and the only one who hasn’t is the referee, not because he doesn’t want to but because he’s forbidden from seeing it, and it could be corrected then I think we should move with the times and take a step forward.”
Infantino has previously expressed his desire for VAR at next summer’s World Cup, but it remains to be seen when the technology will be widely implemented across the game.
“We are prepared to put VAR into practice, but the decision hasn’t been taken yet,” he added. Every time video has been used, it has either confirmed a refereeing decision or corrected a wrong one.
“However, the objective of it is to only correct the big errors and not every single small detail in the game.”