French football's Arbitration Directorate ruled on Wednesday that Le Mans' disputed goal against Auxerre in a Ligue 1 match was legitimate. The match ended in a 1-1 draw, with Le Mans having gone ahead through a header from Lucas Buades.
Arbitration Directorate upholds the goal
Auxerre keeper Paul Nardi appeared to stop the ball on the goal line, but referee Willy Delajod received a signal on his watch from the goal-line technology system and awarded the goal.
Arbitration Directorate said: "Following the header by Le Mans player number 18 (Buades), the referee's watch (Willy Delajod) vibrated to indicate that the ball had fully crossed the goal line."
The decision was supported by the VAR officials, whose live audio discussions were released following a review by Arbitration Directorate on Wednesday.
VAR and pitchside review
Arbitration Directorate said: "The video assistant referees (VAR Cyril Gringore and his assistant Cedric Dos Santos) carefully reviewed the available footage but were unable to identify anything that contradicted the signal transmitted by the technology on the goal line."
Arbitration Directorate said: "Given the exceptional nature of the situation, the referee decided to consult the available footage himself at the side of the pitch. This footage did not allow him to definitively establish that the ball had not fully crossed the line. The goal decision therefore stands."
Will Still disputed the decision
Auxerre manager Will Still said: "If you saw the image from behind the goal. It’s impossible that this ball has entered the goal."
Still said: "It’s his glove, I swear to you it’s his glove on this play."
Still repeatedly claimed in post-match interviews that officials and technology mistakenly identified his goalkeeper's gloved hand behind the line as the ball.
Debate over a specific replay angle
The Independent reported that Still referenced a specific angle on Ligue 1+, which seemed to show that the shot was saved.
The Independent reported that recognition of that replay was omitted from the Arbitration Directorate's response.
Ligue 1 has used goal-line technology since it was first deployed at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
