Neville accuses FIFA of running a 'dictatorship' over opaque VAR call in Switzerland vs Qatar

Gary Neville accused FIFA of operating a “dictatorship” after Switzerland were awarded a controversial penalty in their World Cup 2026 Group B opener against Qatar on Thursday, with VAR officials declining to show the offside lines that would have clarified the decision.

The flashpoint came in the 13th minute when referee Said Martinez pointed to the spot after Qatar goalkeeper Mahmoud Abunada brought down Remo Freuler inside the area. Replays suggested Freuler may have been offside before receiving the ball, but VAR took an extended look at the incident before opting to uphold the original call — and crucially, without displaying the positional lines that have become standard in such reviews. Breel Embolo converted the penalty to give Switzerland a 1-0 lead at half-time.

Commentator Lee Dixon said it looked “a certain offside” to the naked eye during the game, while referee analyst Christina Unkel, speaking during the broadcast, maintained that the VAR technology was “incredibly accurate.”

Neville was far less measured in the ITV studio at the interval. “Lee said it on commentary, we all think it here — there is a massive question mark over that,” he said. “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.”

Unkel also used the half-time break to call out football’s governing body for its failure to communicate the decision clearly. “One of the things that surprises us, with the increased technology and all the players visually 3D-mapped, we thought FIFA would show us these tight calls,” she said. “It would help with fan trust and credibility. 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?”

The incident reignites a long-running debate about VAR’s relationship with the public. Critics have consistently argued that football’s authorities undermine confidence in the system by selectively releasing the visual evidence behind contentious rulings. With FIFA already facing scrutiny over officiating standards at this tournament, the decision to withhold the offside data in such a high-profile moment is likely to intensify that pressure.