France vs Australia 2-1 | Post Match Analysis & Reactions | World Cup 2018

Discussion: it's a "soft" penalty, but is it a penalty. Yes, the contact was there and it prevented Griezman from scoring. Mind you, there was no red card, as the rules interpretation must have changed. Outside the box it will be a red card, inside the box with a given penalty a yellow card. With the VAR review no card was given.

The Slate article was quite positive and sees the VAR as a contribution to the sport. And it's a first time at this level with a global combination of international referees. Not all national league games around the world are played at the highest professional level. That has been a major problem with referees in  past World Cups.

I must confess I am still a field hockey referee at the highest youth level in The Netherlands. Have been active for 33 years with major rules changes of the game to make play more continuous and less time for players and coaches to discuss decisions with referees. Great problem with hockey is the lack of knowledge of the rules by players, coaches and parents supporting the teams. Same for Football reporters in the studio, just amazes me how poor their knowledge is of the rules of the game.

As I understand, there will be a review of any goal scored if there could be any doubt as with the off-side rule. The first goal scored by South Korea in 90+3 min was 100% clean score, yet to everyone's surprise the linesman raises the yellow flag. It was clear the goal would stand. The VAR video offers the referee a review, not bad as it was the game's decision. Glad Neuer thought he was better to participate in the field after his fellow players didn't manage to score a goal in 95 min of play. :-)  

'Sapere aude'