England vs. Iran: The Football Association has filed a complaint with FIFA, criticizing the apparent inconsistency of penalty rulings during England vs. Iran 6-2.
During the game, Manchester United center-back Harry Maguire was denied a penalty following what seemed to be a straightforward foul, with the defender pulled to the ground while attacking a corner.
Later in the competition, Iran was penalized for what looked to be a less evident violation committed by John Stones.
After the game, England manager Gareth Southgate expressed worry over England’s appearance in a pre-tournament referee briefing, which included a tape of Maguire scoring from a corner.
Pierluigi Collina, head of FIFA’s referees’ committee, used the goal to emphasize Kalvin Phillips’ obstruction of an opposing player to generate the scoring chance, noting that such a goal would now be prohibited at the 2022 World Cup.
“We submitted a report. We have yet to get a response, “Southgate explained.
“There was a penalty granted the following day, so whether it was a result of our game being reviewed by the officials or not is difficult to tell.”
Southgate alludes to Lionel Messi’s penalty against Saudi Arabia the next day, which was awarded due to another off-the-ball violation during a corner.
“The issue is one of consistency. We know what we need to perform correctly and that we risk getting penalized for certain actions, “He said.
“I believe there’s a concern for all of the teams in the tournament when you’re not sure what’s going to be awarded, as well as ambiguity on the field and from the VAR.”
Stones, the Manchester City defender who committed the foul that resulted in Iran’s penalty, expressed confusion about the judgments. He also feels he was fouled from the same corner as Maguire and should have received a penalty due to the roughness of the Iranian defender.
“I’m not sure what that VAR mind process was,” Stones said. “I know Harry was singled out in the first case, but I’m not one to back down, and I was straightforward requesting a punishment. I had no idea Harry was going through the same thing.”
Stones also feels the punishment imposed on him for a shirt pull was excessive.
“After thinking about it, I’m a little perplexed that nothing was called and then was for something that, in my view, was never a penalty.”
“I’m not one for giving up petty infractions or things like that, and I don’t think that, with the amount of jostling that goes on in a box, a small tug of the shirt causes someone’s legs collapse and fall over,” he said.
Stones, like his manager, voiced unhappiness with the apparent irregularity of the judgments and pointed to the pre-tournament referee conference.
“But there needs to be some consistency to it,” he says. “It’s difficult to understand someone’s mind process because we were in a refereeing meeting before the tournament and were taught certain things, and I guess our dissatisfaction is when those aren’t backed up.”
