Football

How Robert Lewandowski’s disallowed goal may have exposed a massive VAR flaw amidst Barcelona criticism

Coaches and club executives have complained about refereeing decisions for decades, and VAR has done little to change that. If a controversial call is made, you can pretty much guarantee one side will be upset about it.

For the most part, neutral fans block out the noise as usual banter or typical one-sided grievances.

Yet when the images of Robert Lewandowski’s disallowed goal from Barcelona’s 1-0 defeat to Real Sociedad last weekend began to make the rounds on social media, it appeared the club had a very legitimate complaint.

MORE: All the latest soccer news | Barcelona news

In fact, the situation may have exposed a massive flaw in the new semi-automated offside technology that was meant to shore up the previously lengthy and mistake-prone process involving VAR.

In the 13th minute, Lewandowski appeared to put Barcelona ahead with the game’s first strike, but the goal was disallowed for offside upon VAR review. The system-generated image claimed that Lewandowski’s toe was just inches past the body of Nayef Aguerd’s, who was the last covering defender.

However, a closer inspection of the incident appears to expose an enormous error by the automated system.

An eagle-eyed social media user placed a heavily zoomed-in screenshot of the moment alongside the virtually generated reconstruction apparently used by VAR. In the side-by-side comparison, you can quite easily see that the system has mistaken the intertwined arms of the two players, exposing a flaw whereby the VAR system can get confused between body parts in close proximity to one another.

Translating this to the area in question — Lewandowski’s foot, which is essentially right next to the defender’s — it becomes apparent that the system may have confused Lewandowski’s foot with that of Aguerd. In the real-life still shot, it looks almost impossible that Lewandowski’s foot could be past Aguerd.

Conflicting images of the incident, purporting to come from the official system, were shared on social media in the aftermath — both by those arguing the goal was wrongly disallowed, and others saying the decision was correct. Dale Johnson, the football rules expert for ESPN, said: “Pretty clear from this that the semi-automated offside tech incorrectly identified the two players, leading to what seems certain to be an incorrect offside call.”

Should the image showing the accidental ‘arm swap’ be genuine, it puts significant weight behind Barcelona’s post-match complaints about the system. Head coach Hansi Flick called the decision “a huge mistake” but Barcelona sporting director Deco had much more to say.

“Why is it semi-automatic? I am lost,” Deco said about the decision. “I still don’t know if the boots were yellow [Lewandowski’s] or black [Aguerd’s].

MORE: Explaining semi-automated offside | Latest on semi-automated offside in Premier League

“We don’t want to go there because we don’t want excuses, but there’s a question: what happened? Where’s the error occurred, if there’s an error? If not, no problem, but we need an explanation because we’re lost with what semi-automatic means. If there’s an involvement from VAR, if the referee really can’t do anything.

“If the semi-automatic system doesn’t work, then we need to return to another system. This isn’t a Barca issue, it’s about improvements for all teams. Tomorrow, it could be a bad decision for Atletico Madrid, Real Madrid, Sevilla, Rayo Vallecano, whoever.”

Semi-automated offside has been rolled out in a number of top domestic leagues around the world as well as continental competitions and FIFA tournaments. Yet some leagues, like the Premier League, have delayed implementation while more testing can be completed.

“I don’t think VAR, and not just because of this game, has fixed what in theory it was going to fix,” Deco said. “Some things have improved, but in other areas we still have one person’s interpretation. We still have controversial decisions.”

The defeat was just Barcelona’s second domestic loss of the season, allowing Real Madrid to cut their deficit atop the table to six points.

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