England manager Gareth Southgate is ‘concerned’ that a penalty call against Iran was overturned by VAR and wants to address the issue with FIFA.
England’s World Cup campaign got off to a great start when they beat Iran 6-2. They could have scored even more goals, though, because they were not given a penalty that many people thought should have been given.
Inside the box, an Iran defender tripped Harry Maguire as he tried to get on the end of a corner. The ref didn’t call a penalty, and VAR decided not to step in. But they did it at the other end, giving Iran a penalty at the end of the game for something that seemed like a much less clear foul.
Southgate is worried about the calls because England was used as an example of bad play in a meeting of referees before the tournament. He thinks that because of this, England is being held to a higher standard.
“What worries me is that the referee’s video used us as an example. We were shown what happened with Harry Maguire in the first half, and we were told that would definitely be a penalty “the manager of England said.
We need some clarification really as to how it is going to be. “In the second half, perhaps there is a shirt pull, we’ve got to be better on that, but I’m a bit worried we were the example shown, and then to get a decision as happened in the first half, we need some clarification.
“We have to talk to FIFA and make sure…we want clarity because if we don’t, we don’t know where we stand.”
