Top controversies from FIFA World Cup 2022

The Qatar tournment has been full of exciting moments and goals

The FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar was a thrilling one. From last minute goals to big teams getting knocked out, it was a full package. This was in itself a unique World Cup as it took place in November and December unlike to the previous ones which were held in summer. The World Cup, with all its appreciation, had its flaw too. The World Cup in Qatar was in controversies even before the tournament had started.

Let’s look at the top controversies surrounding FIFA World Cup 2022.

Last minute surprise

France was facing Tunisia, a relatively weaker side. As France had already qualified for the knockouts, the coach Didier Deschamps decided to give other substitutes a chance to start in the match. But the match saw a lead by Tunisia, which they held till the last minutes of stoppage time. Near the end of stoppage time, Griezmann managed to score a goal, destroying Tunisia’s hope of having a victory over the defending champions. But the French celebrations came to a halt when VAR reviewed the goal and ruled it offside.

The African side managed to defend against France for some more added minutes and won the match against the European giants. Although Tunisia was eliminated in the group stage, they gave their fans a sense of pride by defeating France.

Ronaldo vs Santos

When it comes to Ronaldo, we all know what he is capable of doing on the field and off the field. It was the last group stage match and Portugal was to face South Korea. But in the 65th minute when coach Santos subbed Cristiano off, the disagreement on Ronaldo’s face was visible to the media. Coach Santos took account of the superstar’s behaviour and sorted the issue internally.

Ronaldo was benched for their Round of 16 clash against Switzerland, which many pointed being the punishment for his previous match reaction. After Portugal’s exit from the World Cup at the hands of Morocco in the last eight, Portugal has also sacked Santos as the coach and are currently looking for a replacement.

Video Assistant Reliable?

The expectation from VAR is very high because sometimes its life or death for a team. This controversy is regarding this only. The match was Japan vs Spain and simultaneously Germany vs Costa Rica was going on. A must win for Germany and a must win for Spain if Germany were to advance. But out of everyone’s expectations Japan managed to defeat Spain and sent Germany home.

The goal under scanner was the winning goal only. The basic argument was whether the ball was inside of the outline or not. After a long check, VAR cleared the ball to be in and the goal was allowed. But after that many photos sprung up over the internet of the ball with different angles. Many asking the question that whether it was in or not. Fans were discussing the topic over every social media site, Instagram, twitter, reddit, you name it. It is still a hotly debated topic.

Total Chaos

The Quarter Final match between Argentina and Netherlands was a total chaos. At the end, Argentina prevailed and moved to the Semis. Chaos reached its peak when Messi accused the Referee, Antonio Mateu Lahoz, of bad and biased refereeing in a press conference. He told the media that they knew what was coming referring towards the Referee Lahoz.

The match saw 19 yellow cards setting a record for the most yellow cards in a World Cup match. The referee Lahoz has been sent after this messy incident.

The Migrant question

The biggest controversy surrounding the World Cup started way before when the infrastructure for the event was made. Several accusations arose regarding Qatar’s ill treatment of the migrant workers who were working on the infrastructure project. Many Human rights groups like Amnesty international have criticized Qatar for its religious extremism and Migrant condition.

Also read: Controversies surrounding the FIFA World Cup 2022

The allegations were raised regarding the poor pay and living conditions of the migrant workers. Many Migrant workers had also died which also became a reason for the criticism of this World Cup