Why was the match against Urawa and FC Tokyo suspended for 8 minutes? The JFA Judgment Committee explains behind the scenes
On the 28th, the Japan Football Association's referee briefing at a JFA house in Tokyo, revealing the “behind the scenes” of the incident in which the match was suspended for eight minutes due to two VAR decisions in the J1 round of the 17th match against Urawa and FC Tokyo on the 17th of this month.
In the 35th minute of the second half, Urawa's attack was followed by one point, and the net shaking from a cross from the right side. VAR intervened and confirmed the possibility of defender Hoza being offsided when he jumped against a cross ball. As a result of the decision, there was no offside and it was recognized as a goal.
However, in reality, midfielder Matsumoto touched on the final moments in front of the goal. The problem was that VAR had not grasped this fact. The referee was aware of the fact that Matsumoto had mentioned, but he did not think Matsumoto's ball touch had been overlooked as the VAR decision was to check the entire process leading up to the goal being decided on footage. Furthermore, the assistant judge who made a direct judgment was not aware of the fact that Matsumoto had mentioned.
At this point, the assistant referee, who was in the opposite ending with doubt, asked many questions in communication with VRA, saying, “You didn't get the final hit?”, “Is there a centering session?” and “There's no one-touch, right?” It is said that for the first time that VAR was able to grasp the fact that Matsumoto was touching the ball. Thus, the resumption of the match was stopped, and a second VAR decision was made.
If Hoza touches the ball, Matsumoto's position will be offside. It was confirmed whether (1) Hoza touched the ball and (2) whether the ball touched Matsumoto's arm. As a result, even after checking all the videos, no clear evidence was confirmed to both parties, and it was certain that Matsumoto touched on them and changed courses, so the goal was recognized.
Thus it took eight minutes. Judge Manager Sato Takaharu said that the decision that led to the VAR twice was correct, saying, “Since there is no clear evidence, it is no problem that we confirmed the field decision in the end,” but also admitted that there was a problem with the process, saying, “It was our mistake that VAR confirmed Urawa's goal without knowing the fact that Matsumoto from Urawa was touching the ball.”
