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World Cup fans slam VAR ‘chaos’ as Croatia denied penalty after ‘ridiculous’ offside
World Cup fans slam VAR 'chaos' as Croatia denied penalty after 'ridiculous' offside,Croatia thought that they had won a penalty during the first half of their crucial World Cup group stage match against Belgium on Thursday only to be denied by VAR

World Cup fans slam VAR ‘chaos’ as Croatia denied penalty after ‘ridiculous’ offside

World Cup fans have slammed more VAR chaos after Croatia were denied a penalty by a "ridiculous" offside decision.

Referee Anthony Taylor had pointed to the penalty spot in the 15th minute after Andrej Kramaric went down under a challenge from Yannick Carrasco inside the Belgium penalty area. However, the English official was then advised to look at the pitchside monitor after an offside from the initial free-kick was spotted by VAR.

After consulting with the VAR officials and watching back the incident on the screen, Taylor chalked off the Croatia penalty, much to the confusion of those inside the stadium and watching at home.

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Fans were quick to take to social media to criticise the decision, with one tweeting: "They desperately need to broadcast the audio from VAR like, biggest stage on the planet this and it’s chaos."

Another supporter added: "VAR chaos again. Why wait until they're about to take the penalty before querying it??" A third also wrote: "VAR is getting ridiculous."

One more fan commented: "When it’s this tight, it should be in favour of the striker." Replays showed that the attacking player was only offside by the end of their shirt sleeve.

Should Croatia have been awarded a penalty? Let us know in the comments section below.

Croatia/Belgium
Replays showed just how tight the offside decision was (Image: Twitter/@BBCMOTD)

Those replays were also shown inside the stadium after a brief delay, leading to boos and jeers from the Croatia supporters in attendance after seeing how tight the offside was.

The confusion around the decision also came from Taylor being told to watch the incident on the monitor, with the VAR officials drawing lines to determine their decision.

Offside decisions at the World Cup have made use of FIFA's new semi-automated technology which speeds up the process by immediately determining whether a player is onside or not.

The match between Croatia and Belgium had taken on the role of an unofficial play-off for a place in the last 16, with the latter having to win to progress thanks to Morocco's lead against Canada.

Belgium's defeat to Morocco in their second match had left them at risk of a group stage exit, meanwhile, Croatia thrashed Canada 4-1 to boost their chances of qualification.

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