Lille ended Sunday night at the top of Ligue 1 after beating Troyes 2-0, but an early VAR reversal left a sour note inside the stadium. Hakon Arnar Haraldsson appeared to score in the second minute, only for the goal to be cancelled seven seconds after Troyes had already restarted.
Key takeaways
- Lille’s 2-0 victory over Troyes on Matchday 4 moved the club into first place in Ligue 1.
- Haraldsson’s early finish was initially awarded after the referee signalled the restart.
- Referee M. Lissorgue then stopped play following a VAR communication and ruled the Icelandic forward offside.
- IFAB protocol states that a review cannot normally be carried out once play has resumed.
- Carlo Ancelotti said the fourth official cited the France-Tunisia World Cup incident as a comparable case.
Lille win cannot erase early VAR controversy
The disputed moment came almost immediately. Dilane Bakwa struck the post for Troyes, with Haraldsson reacting to the rebound and putting Lille ahead. M. Lissorgue allowed the goal and blew for Troyes to take the kick-off.
Seven seconds later, however, the referee halted the match after receiving a message through his earpiece. Following the VAR intervention, he overturned the decision and disallowed Haraldsson’s strike for offside.
The sequence appears to clash with point 10 of IFAB’s video-assistant-referee protocol. Once a match has restarted after a stoppage, the referee cannot conduct a review, except in cases involving mistaken identity or an offence carrying a sending-off, including violent conduct, spitting, biting, or abusive, insulting or offensive language or actions.
The cancellation was met by whistles from the Lille crowd, although the home supporters were soon able to celebrate a comfortable final result. Lille went on to win 2-0 and take first place in the league.
Ancelotti said he had been furious when the first decision was changed, and therefore did not initially approach the fourth official. After Lille later scored, he went over to ask about the incident.
“He told me that he could do it,” Ancelotti said. “I replied that he could not stop a game seven seconds after the restart. He said he could, because the same thing had happened at the World Cup. That was his explanation. I had never seen that before.”
A World Cup precedent and silence from Lille’s president
The official was referring to France’s 2022 World Cup match against Tunisia, when Antoine Griezmann’s stoppage-time equaliser was overturned after play had resumed and the final whistle had been blown. France lost that game 1-0.
TF1 had already left its live coverage for advertising, believing the draw had stood, and did not show the late reversal. François Pellissier, then the broadcaster’s sports director, criticised FIFA for what he described as an officiating error, arguing that VAR should not have been used after the match had restarted.
The Lille case unfolded far earlier, but raised the same procedural question. Club president Olivier Létang made no public comment after the match. He has been called before the LFP disciplinary commission over inflammatory messages issued following Lille’s match against PSG.
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Lille beat Troyes 2-0 but early VAR reversal sparks IFAB protocol debate
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Lille moved top of Ligue 1 with a 2-0 win over Troyes, but Hakon Arnar Haraldsson’s cancelled early goal raised questions over VAR rules after play restarted.
