Fiorentina’s goal was counted by the GLT system – and the VAR and the referee canceled! Rebellion against machines

A very strange episode.

The match between Fiorentina and Braga in the Conference League was perhaps one of the most meaningless – after the defeat in Portugal (4:0 in favor of the Italians), the intrigue disappeared, so the teams just went out to have fun. And they did it – 3:2.

But we would hardly have paid attention to this game if it were not for the very strange cancellation of one of Fiorentina’s goals.

In the 49th minute, Artur Cabral closed the cross, and keeper Thiago Sa, as it seemed, cleared the ball from behind the goal line (the beginning of the moment on the video is from 3:32).

The referee first counted the goal, but then replayed everything.

“I still don’t understand what happened.” Italians are shocked by the cancellation

From this angle, it seemed that the ball did not completely cross the line.

But the chief referee Benoit Bastien pointed to the center of the field – he received a notification from the goal determination system that the ball had nevertheless crossed the line.

True, the VAR did not like this – the video assistants intervened and called Bastien to the monitor. After five minutes of discussion and watching, the French ref agreed with the arguments of the assistants – and canceled the goal.

At the same time, the broadcast showed exactly the picture with the ball behind the goal line and its fixation. That is, it was completely incomprehensible to the viewer why the goal was not counted.

By the way, Cabral still scored according to the rules a few minutes later – and celebrated by depicting the referee counting the goal after the video review. But questions about the canceled goal still remained.

“Honestly, I still don’t understand what happened,” coach Vincenzo Italiano said after the game. “We looked at the replays and it looks like the ball crossed the line, so I don’t know what it was.”

One can imagine what a scandal would have erupted if the goal had mattered.

Remind me how the goal determination system works?

The goal detection system is based on high-speed cameras that track the flight of the ball. With the help of special cables laid underground, a magnetic field is created in the area of ​​the goal, and inside the ball itself there is a microchip, which, when crossing the goal line, sends a signal to the referee’s watch.

Usually it was GLT (goal-line technology) that supplemented the VAR and helped in difficult situations – as, for example, a couple of years ago in the game between Man City and Liverpool , when the VAR could not help.

But this seems to be the first time this has happened. UEFA has not yet clarified what it was – a mistake of the system, the referee, or something otherworldly.