FIFA confirms technical outage hid VAR offside data in Switzerland's draw with Qatar

FIFA has confirmed that a technical outage prevented the broadcast of semi-automated offside technology (SOAT) visualisation data during Switzerland’s 1-1 World Cup 2026 Group B opener against Qatar at Levi’s Stadium in the San Francisco Bay Area.

The controversy centred on a 15th-minute penalty awarded to Switzerland after midfielder Remo Freuler was brought down in the box by Qatari goalkeeper Mahmud Abunada. Referee Said Martinez had little hesitation in pointing to the spot, and Breel Embolo converted confidently to give Switzerland an early lead. The problem was what came — or rather, did not come — next.

Broadcast replays appeared to show Freuler in an offside position when the ball reached him, yet VAR did not intervene and, unusually, no 3D animated still was shown to explain the decision. In previous matches, FIFA’s upgraded SOAT system — built using 3D body scans of all 1,248 players named in the 48 World Cup squads — had routinely produced detailed down-the-line visuals to illustrate offside outcomes, even in cases where no review was required.

The absence of any such graphic for a decision this tight immediately fuelled suspicion. ITV pundit Gary Neville was direct at half time: “Why aren’t FIFA showing us when there’s already such distrust for them? It’s a dictatorship this — the idea that they hold this data internally and not show fans, it’s absolutely ridiculous.”

Refereeing analyst Christina Unkel echoed the frustration: “We thought FIFA would show us these tight calls. They usually only show those replays when they change a referee decision, but we have the technology. Why not use the technology they’ve invested in?”

FIFA later issued a statement clarifying that the outage affected only the generation and distribution of the visualisation after the decision had already been made — meaning the underlying SOAT process itself was not compromised. The governing body indicated the technical fault was brief, though the damage to public confidence had already been done.

On the pitch, Switzerland were left to reflect on a costly dropped point. Murat Yakin’s side squandered a succession of chances to extend their lead before Miro Muheim turned the ball into his own net deep in second-half stoppage time to hand Qatar a share of the spoils.