New FIFA transparency petition passes 3,500 signatures after Croatia’s controversial World Cup exit

(Fifa)

By Thomas Mustac

A recently launched Change.org petition aimed at compelling FIFA to reveal all technical information regarding the elimination of Croatia from the World Cup has collected over 3,500 signatures to date.

This petition comes as HNS’s official protest letter was sent just yesterday to FIFA regarding the disallowed goal scored by Joško Gvardiol for Croatia in stoppage time against Portugal due to an alleged offside violation involving Igor Matanović.

Instead of challenging the verdict itself, the petition asks for full disclosure regarding one of the most controversial VAR calls in the tournament.

The organizers have asked FIFA to disclose VAR audio, ball-connected sensor information, signal chart and spike, precise timing, synchronized video, offside calibration using semi-automated technology, player tracking data, and the complete technical justification behind denying the goal to Croatia.

The petition suggests that if technology is good enough to determine the winner of a FIFA World Cup match, then the supporting evidence for that verdict should be made available to independent scrutiny by engineers, referees, players and football fans alike.

A request that has also been heard from Belgium fans following FIFA’s controversial reversal of the suspension of United States striker Folarin Balogun.

Most of the campaign supporters do not seem convinced with the broadcast footage available in the public domain because there seems to be no noticeable difference in the speed, direction or movement of the ball that would indicate that the ball was touched before reaching Mario Pašalić.

It has called for the explanation from FIFA about how the connected-ball technology detected the touch and differentiated it from all other possibilities.

Campaigners who want to add their name to the list of the campaign can sign the petition available at Change.org.