In a dramatic turn of events during the Champions League round of 16, controversy reigned supreme as England football icon Gary Lineker criticized the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) for its contentious call on Victor Osimhen’s disallowed goal against Liverpool. The match, held on Tuesday, saw Galatasaray emerge victorious with a 1-0 win, courtesy of an early seventh-minute goal from Mario Lemina.
Osimhen, the Nigerian striker, believed he had doubled Galatasaray’s tally when he found the net, only for VAR to intervene and annul the strike due to an offside infringement in the lead-up to the goal.
Lineker, speaking on The Rest Is Football podcast, did not hold back in his condemnation of the decision. He described the VAR’s ruling on Osimhen’s goal as “absurd” and labeled it a “terrible, terrible decision.” He elaborated, “I’ve watched it 50 times and it’s absurd. There’s no impact [from Yilmaz]. It’s just a terrible, terrible decision and VAR just waved it on.”
Emphasizing his frustration, Lineker stated that the VAR team had erred in their assessment. “There was no interference whatsoever. It was the wrong player as well. They got it completely wrong. I’ve double-checked it a thousand times,” he asserted. “There was no contact and also, it wasn’t that player who went through. He had no impact on the game whatsoever.”
This incident has sparked a renewed debate over the effectiveness and application of VAR in football, with many fans and analysts echoing Lineker’s concerns regarding the system’s integrity in critical match situations.
