Serbia, Portugal may have averted Cristiano Ronaldo fury: UEFA

A Cristiano Ronaldo aim not given in a dramatic World Cup qualifier between Serbia and Portugal would have stood if the 2 soccer associations had agreed earlier than the sport to make use of goal-line know-how, UEFA stated on Monday.
Portugal captain Ronaldo was left fuming and bought booked for dissent after his stoppage-time effort in Saturday’s Group A 2-2 draw at Serbia was cleared by Stefan Mitrovic after the ball had crossed the road as proven by tv replays.
With no Video Assistant Referee (VAR) in place to evaluation the incident, match officers waved play on and a furious Ronaldo left the pitch seconds earlier than the ultimate whistle as he additionally threw away the captain’s armband whereas heading in direction of the tunnel.

Cristiano Ronaldo says “an entire nation is being harmed” after his last-minute successful aim for Portugal was not given by the officers 🗣 pic.twitter.com/WSzxBZwE8O
— B/R Football (@brfootball) March 28, 2021
“The decision to use goal-line technology for the European Qualifiers lies with the host association for each match,” the European soccer governing physique stated.
“If the host association plans to implement goal-line technology, they must also obtain written consent from the visiting association in order for it to be used,” UEFA added.
Match referee Danny Makkelie informed Portuguese newspaper A Bola on Monday that he had apologised to Portugal coach Fernando Santos and the remainder of the staff for the error.
“All I can say is that I said sorry to the coach and the team about what happened. As a refereeing team we always work hard to take the right decisions. When we are in the news for a reason like this, it doesn’t make us happy at all,” he stated.

The cause Cristiano Ronaldo was so offended 👀 pic.twitter.com/8Wua9iNRSx
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) March 28, 2021
Santos stated after the sport it was unacceptable to not have VAR at this stage of competitors however UEFA on Sunday stated the COVID-19 pandemic made it unattainable to put in the system in time for the qualifiers.
“In 2019 UEFA had proposed to (world soccer governing body) FIFA the implementation of VAR in the current World Cup qualifiers,” it stated.
“The influence of the pandemic on operational and logistical capabilities led UEFA to delay the implementation of VAR within the Europa League group section (to 2021-22 as an alternative of 2020-21) in addition to to withdraw the proposal to implement VAR within the 2022 European qualifiers.
“VAR was also not in use in the UEFA Nations League group stage in the autumn of 2020 and has therefore to-date never been used in UEFA national team qualifying group stage matches.”
FIFA, which organises the World Cup, stated it was knowledgeable by UEFA in January that VAR couldn’t be utilized in qualifiers as a result of “issues and restrictions” attributable to the novel coronavirus.
The consequence left Serbia prime of the group on 4 factors from two video games, forward of Portugal on aim distinction. The two groups meet once more within the reverse fixture in Portugal on Nov. 14 within the ultimate spherical of matches.