Alexander Isak saw his goal for Sweden against Azerbaijan inexplicably ruled out for offside by VAR after appearing to hand his nation a 4-0 lead and was left fuming with the incorrect decision. The officials responsible for what has been deemed the 'worst VAR decision ever' have been suspended. Pawel Malec and Daniel Stefanski have been stripped of their responsibilities and banned from working in matches organised by the Polish Football Association indefinitely. The pair were in place as Video Assistant Referee and Assistant Video Assistant Referee and chose to rule an Alexander Isak goal out for offside when Sweden faced Azerbaijan in the Nations League. The decision-making process saw the goal awarded before Malec reviewed the effort. The official drew lines across the pitch that showed Isak to be marginally offside when Viktor Gyokeres, who was onside, received a pass in the build-up to the strike. Isak however, was then clearly onside when played the ball by Gyokeres on the left wing, before appearing to make the score 4-0. Referee Pawel Raczkowski, without any reason to mistrust VAR's decision, ruled the goal out.
Malec and Stefanski have seen the PZPN Referees' Board choose to deny them the ability to take charge of first division matches in Poland in the capacity of referee or video assistant referee. The board also decided that downgrading the referees to the second division would be disproportionate, but the PZPN did not announce the length of the referees' sanction. The duo could also still see a punishment from UEFA, after the European body declared: "The offside decision was a mistake by the VAR".
Despite Sweden still coming away with a 6-0 win, Isak was left aghast with the decision. The Newcastle United forward was fuming when he identified the goal being ruled out as VAR's worst decision yet. "How is that possible?" said Iask following the game. "Seriously. It's almost the worst I've seen. I'm happy, of course, that we win, but when I score a goal that should be allowed, then it's clear that you get annoyed. I don't think I've ever experienced anything like this at this level when I've been involved. You've seen a lot of mistakes, but this one was pretty rough. The referees stood in the player tunnel at half-time. We argued with them, but they stuck to their decision that they had made the right call."
Source: The Mirror
