Why the referee overturned France’s free-kickpublished at 10:50 BST
10:50 BST
France 0-2 Spain
Dale Johnson
Football issues correspondent
Did the video assistant referee really tell the referee to cancel a free-kick just before half-time?
We see something like this several times a season. As usual, there is a much simpler explanation. Here is what happened.
Ousmane Dembele ran into Fabian Ruiz on the edge of the box, with referee Ivan Barton giving the free-kick to France.
But a few seconds later the referee changed his mind, and restarted with a dropped ball to Spain.
It was a confusing situation, so you cannot blame people for thinking the VAR was involved.
The assistant on the far side of the field, Antonio Pupiro, had told the referee he had made a mistake.
On the replays you see Barton point towards Pupiro before changing the restart.
France coach Didier Deschamps was pictured in conversation with the other assistant, David Moran, who also pointed to the far side of the pitch to Pupiro.
You are far more likely to see a referee take an assistant’s advice before giving a decision.
It is exceptionally rare to see a referee cancel a free-kick decision after they have given it. Usually a referee just owns it.
Image source, Getty Images