Collina defends VAR decision against Tah's goal in World Cup round of 16 against Paraguay

Collina's interpretation of the rules

Collina, who is from Italy, wrote his explanations in a FIFA publication that deals generally with scenes such as the one in the Germany vs Paraguay match. He did not name Anton, but published a large photograph showing the body contact between Anton and Gill. "Trainer und Spieler wurden darüber informiert. Daher sollte es keine Überraschung sein, wenn Schiedsrichter solche Vergehen ahnden", Collina wrote. Referees had been instructed to pay particular attention to "ein Beispiel hierfür ist, wenn angreifende Spieler versuchen, verteidigende Spieler an ihrer Bewegung zu hindern".

The incident occurred in extra time of the round of 16 match. Jonathan Tah had headed the ball into the net from a corner, apparently putting Germany ahead 2-1. After the video referee's intervention, the goal was disallowed. The match ultimately ended in defeat for Germany in a penalty shootout, sealing their elimination from the World Cup.

Reactions from Germany and England

The decision had drawn considerable criticism in Germany. Former English referee Mark Clattenburg said on the US broadcaster Fox Sports: "Das ist ein klares Foul für mich". In doing so, he supported the VAR's view, albeit from a different perspective than the German discussion.

MagentaTV expert Patrick Ittrich was more reserved: "Für mich ist das keine klare Fehlentscheidung vom Schiedsrichter". The German refereeing expert thus positioned himself between the sharp criticism from Germany and Collina's explanation, pointing to the subjective component of such scenes.

Background of FIFA's communication

Collina emphasized the preventive nature of communication in his explanation. Players and coaches had been informed of the interpretation in advance, so that intervention by the officials should come as no surprise. FIFA had pointed out repeatedly in recent years that physical actions against goalkeepers at set pieces should be punished more consistently.

The World Cup round of 16 match between Germany and Paraguay ended after extra time with a penalty shootout, which the German team lost. As a result, the DFB was eliminated from the tournament in the round of the last 16. The discussion about the controversial scene accompanied the post-mortem of the tournament in the following days.

Collina's statement is part of a broader FIFA initiative to communicate refereeing decisions more transparently after the fact. The publication contains general explanations of tactical approaches by individual teams in which attackers deliberately obstruct defenders, and makes clear that the VAR is to play an active role in such cases.