HIBAPRESS – Sports
The fourth goal scored by Wydad Athletic Club against Ittihad Touarga sparked widespread controversy among the followers, as many fans doubted its validity on the grounds of an offside situation.
However, an informed refereeing source clarified that the scene could not be definitively determined by the naked eye whether it was offside or not, stressing that the video assistant referee (VAR) technology, in turn, could not resolve the decision due to a purely technical factor related to the shooting angle. The same source explained that determining offside cases via VAR technology requires the availability of shots that show the touchlines together and from two different angles, so that the technology can draw offside lines accurately and automatically. However, the shot of the goal was at a narrow shooting angle, which made one of the touchlines not visible in the picture, which prevented the possibility of using the technology to draw offside lines in a technically correct way. The source added that in such cases where the technology is unable to determine the offside lines due to calibration problems at one of the shooting angles, the decision of the referee on the field is resorted to, as long as the technology could not provide the required technical assistance. And since the assistant referee ordered the game to continue and did not announce the existence of offside, the VAR room sufficed with endorsing the field decision. It was also explained that the defender's touch of the ball before it reached the WAC striker was considered intentional play, given the sufficient distance that separated him from the source of the pass, his physical balance, his presence on the ground and his ability to see the ball clearly, which makes the striker's position legal according to the approved offside laws, considering that the ball was received from the opponent team player who played it.
