Netherlands robbed by referee in Greece: this is why

The Netherlands had a highly controversial equaliser from Denzel Dumfries ruled out against Greece. Referee Marco Guida disallowed the 2-2 after VAR Daniele Chiffi intervened for offside, but under IFAB rules the goal should have stood.

The incident began with a long ball from Joey Veerman. Dumfries headed it back towards goal from the far post. Mexx Meerdink was there and got a slight touch, while Dumfries was in an offside position at that moment, before the ball reached Greece defender Panagiotis Retsos.

Retsos then deliberately took the bouncing ball towards the flank and tried to dribble past Dumfries. The Netherlands international anticipated it, intercepted and fired home from close range.

That deliberate action by Retsos is the key point under IFAB Law 11. An earlier offside position is cancelled out when an opponent deliberately plays the ball, as long as it is not a deliberate save.

IFAB describe this as ‘deliberate play’. A defender does not need to control the ball perfectly, because a failed control, pass or defensive action can still count as a deliberate play.

Among the key criteria are whether the defender can see the ball, has time to react and is able to position his body. In Retsos's case, the ball bounced simply in front of his feet and he consciously chose to take it with the inside of his foot.

The action looks very similar to the examples IFAB give themselves. If a defender deliberately plays the ball and then loses it to an attacker who was previously offside, play should in principle continue.

Guida, the Italian referee, was sent to the monitor by compatriot Daniele Chiffi, the VAR, but still ruled the goal out for offside after reviewing the footage.