'VARgentina' reach semi-finals under cloud of complaints

Argentina's journey to the World Cup semi-finals has been shadowed by persistent complaints from opponents and fans regarding refereeing decisions. Social media has even nicknamed the defending champions "VARgentina" due to perceived favoritism.

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I don't think it should have been applied in the first place. It was too broad.

The controversy reached a peak during Argentina's quarter-final victory over Switzerland. Switzerland's coach Murat Yakin deemed a VAR decision to send off Breel Embolo for simulation "unacceptable." Christina Unkel, a rules analyst and former FIFA referee, criticized the application of a new protocol, stating it was "too broad" and allowed referees to change the fundamental basis of decisions, effectively re-refereeing games.

This new expansion of the protocol, implemented without sufficient testing, has created a "powder keg" of public perception, Unkel told Reuters. "I'm just waiting for the final lynchpin," she added.

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And where I'm struggling with it is we're not just changing who gets the card, we're changing the underlying decision from a free kick going this way to saying no, no, no, it's actually a decision completely opposite way. So we're changing the basis of the decision.

The narrative of questionable calls has persisted since the group stage. Algeria had called for Lionel Messi to be sent off for stepping on an opponent's calf, though he was not carded and later scored a hat-trick. The Algerian FA subsequently filed a complaint alleging poor refereeing.

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And to me, that is where we are now officially, I think, in the re-refereeing area that VAR has been fighting to try to stay out of.

Further controversy arose during Argentina's round of 16 match against Egypt. A disallowed Egyptian goal, preceded by a foul identified by VAR, and a subsequent denied penalty appeal, preceded Argentina's late winner. The Egyptian FA stated that several decisions impacted the game's outcome. While Unkel found no clear refereeing errors in those specific matches, she acknowledged that off-field issues have eroded fan trust in FIFA's handling of World Cup officiating.

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This new expansion of the protocol without testing it, without really knowing that that's what they wanted it to do... it's just like a powder keg.