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Gary Neville has accused FIFA of acting like a ‘dictatorship’ after a controversial penalty was awarded to Switzerland in their World Cup clash against Qatar.
Switzerland were given the spot-kick when Remo Freuler, who had run onto a header into his path by Breel Embolo, was brought down by Qatar goalkeeper Mahmoud Abunada at San Francisco Bay Area Stadium.
But confusion emerged after footage appeared to show Freuler in an offside position before Abunada clattered into him but the VAR checked and cleared the penalty, which Embolo converted to put Switzerland in front.
FIFA claims advanced semi-automated offside technology is in place at the World Cup but they have not yet published any images to support the decision to allow the penalty to stand. There were also no alternative angles of the incident shown on the broadcast.
‘We all think it here and everybody will think it at home,’ Neville said on ITV.
‘FIFA are the host broadcaster. They’ve got the evidence of the automatic decision which they can show us.
TV footage appeared to show Remo Freuler was in an offside position in the penalty incident
Gary Neville called out FIFA on ITV’s coverage of the match, labelling them a ‘dictatorship’
‘Why are they not showing us? They did this in the last tournament. Fans are already distrusting of FIFA and technology to start with.
‘There is a massive question mark over that because that is offside in my eyes until they prove differently.
‘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.’
Ian Wright and Duncan Ferguson, sat alongside Neville in the ITV studio, also said Freuler looked offside to the naked eye.
FIFA has boasted about the semi-automated technology in place at the World Cup, which includes cameras to track player movement at a rate of 50 stills per second.
Life-like AI avatars will also be created of every player to help make more accurate decisions, FIFA said.
Speaking on ITV’s commentary of the Group B match, ex-Arsenal and England defender Lee Dixon insisted the call to give the penalty would be ruled out.
‘There’s no doubt about the penalty but he’s offside,’ Dixon said. ‘This won’t count.’
Qatar stole a point late on as Boualem Khoukhi headed home a stoppage-time equaliser to make Switzerland pay for their poor finishing.
Daily Mail Sport has contacted FIFA for comment.
Which England star has 7 GCSEs? Who has lost half of his finger? Test your knowledge of Thomas Tuchel’s squad with our exclusive quiz HERE.
