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The 2026 FIFA (International Federation of Association Football) World Cup ended in a fog of technical confusion. A decade ago, FIFA introduced technology to make football fairer. Today it behaves like an autocrat.

Once, no machine decided what happened on the field. Fouls, offsides, throw-ins, corners and penalties were judged instantly by referees and linesmen, their whistles and flags keeping the game’s rhythm.

Technology arrived to settle old controversies – Geoff Hurst’s disputed “Wembley Goal” in 1966, Maradona’s “Hand of God” in 1986, Frank Lampard’s disallowed “Ghost Goal” in 2010 and more. Ironically, that same technology now inflicts football’s deepest wounds.

At the latest world cup, confusing calls and delayed verdicts drained the joy from the spectators, as two knockout matches demonstrated.

In the Round of 16, VAR, the Video Assistant Referee, examined a challenge between Argentina’s Lisandro Martinez and Egypt’s Marwan Atiyah, flagged a foul that went undetected in the normal speed of the game and cancelled Egypt’s second goal.

In the England-Norway quarter-final, the ball brushed a spider-cam wire, but since its sensor showed no “spike,” VAR let England’s goal stand instead of a “dropped ball.”

Such confusion resurfaces as technology digs deeper into the game. FIFA’s ambition to build a data bank at each world cup and make the sport flawless has unsettled its character.

Football was never perfect and that imperfection made it the greatest game. Wrong penalties, disputed offsides and baffling calls fuelled arguments then, as it still does. Had VAR existed in 1986, Maradona’s “Hand of God” would never have become legend. Machines cannot grasp the artistry born of human error.

A game once governed by human judgment since the world cup’s early days, now runs on cameras, sensors and data.

A player’s ball control, speed, fatigue and injuries are now data points deciding player substitutions and........

© The Wire