Brazil

Brazil says FIFA has dismissed its complaint over VAR use

Published Jun. 20, 2018 5:24 p.m. ET

SOCHI, Russia (AP) The Brazilian soccer federation says FIFA has dismissed its complaint over the use of video review in the team's World Cup opener against Switzerland.

The federation said Wednesday FIFA didn't specifically address the plays contested by Brazil: non-calls on a push inside the area before Switzerland's equalizer and a penalty on Gabriel Jesus.

It said FIFA reiterated VAR is used only to eliminate clear and obvious mistakes by the officiating crew.

The federation said its request for the audio used by match officials was denied by FIFA, which claimed the decision not to release such recordings was made before the tournament started.

It said it still believed the use of VAR would have avoided the ''clear'' refereeing mistakes that went against Brazil during the match.

It said that keeping an open dialogue with FIFA will prevent future mistakes in incidents involving VAR and contribute to improve the system.

---

More AP World Cup coverage: www.apnews.com/tag/WorldCup