World Cup Diary: VAR a huge success, says Fifa’s Pierluigi

Referees committee chairman Pierluigi Collina has confirmed Fifa cracked down on holding by defenders at set-pieces after a series of early incidents at the World Cup in Russia.

Collina was asked why England’s Harry Kane and Serbia’s Aleksandar Mitrovic were not given penalties for being held during games against Tunisia and Switzerland, respectively. And while he would not comment on specific incidents, he said: “You might have appreciated there were some incidents that suddenly disappeared or started to be punished. It’s impossible to be right from the start but because we noticed, we intervened and we fine-tuned. Things have changed during the tournament.”

In general, Collina and his colleagues on the committee said they believe VAR has been a huge success in Russia.

Having reviewed the first 48 games, Collina said there have been 335 incidents checked — nearly seven per game — with 14 on-field reviews made by referees and three reviews made by the VAR team on factual decisions.

Of these incidents, referees called 95% of them correctly without VAR but video replays improved this to 99.3% by correcting 14 of them — six were penalties awarded after an on-field review, one was a penalty given by the VAR because it was shown the foul occurred in the area, two penalties were cancelled after on-field reviews, two potential red cards were confirmed as yellows, two goals were awarded after potential offsides and one mistaken identity for a yellow.

“We have always said that VAR doesn’t mean perfection — there could still be the wrong interpretation or a mistake — but I think you would agree that 99.3% is very close to perfection,” Collina said.

Iran player quits over mum’s abuse

Iran’s Sardar Azmoun has quit international football at only 23 after insults directed at him affected his ill mother.

The Rubin Kazan striker completed 90 minutes in each of Iran’s three World Cup games but has now opted to retire, citing the abuse he has received and the effect it has had on his family.

Azmoun posted on Instagram: “There are some things in life that will speak first to you. My mother had overcome a serious illness and I was happy, but unfortunately because of the unkindness of some people — and the insults that me and my team-mates in no way deserved — her illness has become severe.

“This has put me in a difficult position where I must pick one or the other, and as a result I pick my mother.”

Ki makes Newcastle move

Ki Sung-yueng has become Newcastle’s second signing of the summer after agreeing a two-year contract on Tyneside. South Korea’s captain becomes a Magpie on July 1 once his Swansea deal has expired. Newcastle announced the move yesterday, with the midfielder following Martin Dubravka to St James’ Park.

Former skipper Ballacks unhappy at Low’s deal

Former Germany captain Michael Ballack has questioned the decision to hand coach Joachim Low a new contract on the eve of World Cup.

Low, who has come in for intense criticism back home, signed a contract extension in May to remain in charge until 2022 — something Ballack believes was a mistake by the German FA.

“After a European or World Cup, you can judge the work that has been done in the previous two years. Friendlies and tournament qualifiers for a footballing nation like Germany are not proper indicators of the state of our team.

“For this reason, it was unnecessary to give Joachim Low a four-year contract extension just four weeks before the World Cup started.”

Mignolet future uncertain

Liverpool’s Belgian goalkeeper Simon Mignolet will assess his club position after the World Cup. Mignolet, who is contracted through to 2021, has not played since January but his replacement Loris Karius dropped two potentially career-defining clangers in the Champions League final.

“I am going to look at my situation when I come back from the World Cup,” said Mignolet.

“I didn’t play in the last few months at Liverpool, so after the World Cup I’ll look at everything I need to speak to the manager about that.”