Overview
- FIFA disclosed after Sunday's Switzerland–Qatar match that a short technical outage prevented broadcasters from showing the semi-automated offside graphic before Switzerland's 17th-minute penalty.
- The penalty followed a foul by Qatar goalkeeper Mahmud Abunada on Remo Freuler and was converted by Breel Embolo to give Switzerland the lead.
- FIFA said the VAR workflow was not impaired, that the internal VAR lines showed no offside in the relevant moments, and that the referee team led by Said Martínez acted in line with the rules.
- Television viewers and former referees expressed doubt because the missing graphic and the camera angle created a misleading impression of a marginal offside, which helped fuel public confusion.
- The match finished 1:1 after a stoppage-time own goal by Miro Muheim, and the incident raises questions about how missing broadcast visuals affect fan trust in officiating and how FIFA should explain tool failures in future games.