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As the World Cup enters its decisive stages, FIFA's chief referee, Pierluigi Collina, has assessed the performance of refereeing to this point in the tournament, defending the integrity and independence of the refereeing corps.
In an interview with FIFA's official website, the former Italian referee stressed that referees' decision-making is not influenced by any external factor, including the organization's top leaders.
" No one can question the integrity of the referees of World Cup matches and no one can claim that FIFA's refereeing has been influenced by anyone, even by President Gianni Infantino. Infantino has always shown full support for the FIFA refereeing team, believing in our ability to act with complete independence. Referees make decisions in good faith and, like footballers and coaches, always try to give their best ," said Colina.
Taking stock of the first half of the tournament, Kolina expressed himself generally satisfied with the level of refereeing, although he admitted that not everything worked perfectly.
" Overall we are satisfied. However, given the large number of matches played in a relatively short period, it is normal that not everything has gone according to plan ," he stated.
Kolina also commented on one of the most controversial episodes of the tournament, the annulment of Zico's goal in the Egypt-Argentina match, when the score was 1-0 in favor of the Africans. The match ended with Argentina winning 3-2.
According to him, the decision was in accordance with the VAR system protocol.
" Atia is clearly seen stepping on Lisandro Martínez's foot. After each goal, VAR checks the possession phase during the attacking action. If a foul is identified in the build-up to the action, as happened in this case, and it has an impact on the goal being scored, VAR recommends reviewing the episode. There is no limit, neither for the distance from the goal nor for the time that separates the episode from the moment the goal is scored ," explained Kolina.
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