Romelu Lukaku. Belga

VAR controversy overshadows biggest upset in UEFA Euro history

By Clark Dalton | Last updated Jun 17, 2024 6:19 PM ET

The first upset of the 2024 UEFA European Championship came with some controversy.

On Monday, Slovakia shocked Belgium 1-0 in its opening match in Group E. However, in the second half, two goals from Belgian forward Romelu Lukaku were overturned by video assistant referee (VAR).

The second reversal drew ire. During the review, UEFA's new "sickometer," which uses a computer chip to determine if a player's hand touches the ball, flagged forward Lois Openda for a handball. He was being pushed in the back, though, and may have been using his hand to maintain balance rather than advance the ball.

After a review, Romelu Lukaku has a second goal of the day disallowed, this time due to a hand ball pic.twitter.com/g7xzxIyfGR
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) June 17, 2024

Longtime English sportswriter Henry Winter ripped the decision on his X account.

Terrible decision, the type of forensic-examining, goal-hating, joy-shredding decision that has scarred the Premier League. It’s re-refereeing games. Openda was being pushed, he was sprinting, his hand was in a natural position & does well to keep his balance. Belgium robbed.
— Henry Winter (@henrywinter) June 17, 2024

ESPN general editor Dale Johnson noted that UEFA has a much "stricter interpretation" of handball rules than the English Premier League, but some would argue that the play shouldn't lead to a review.

"It's not the kind of decision anyone really expected VAR to be making when it was introduced [in 2018-19], but UEFA will insist on its guidelines being applied in these cases," wrote Johnson. "But it does leave a bad taste."

Perhaps UEFA should consider relaxing its guidelines after the match. Slovakia still deserves credit for pulling off the largest upset in Euros history. Entering the match, it was 48th in FIFA rankings, while Belgium was third.

After the loss, Beligian manager Domenico Tedesco didn't pin the blame on the controversial calls and indicated the Red Devils will rebound in their next match against Romania on Saturday, via ESPN.

Clark Dalton

Dalton is a 2022 journalism graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. He gained experience in sports media over the past seven years — from live broadcasting and creating short films to podcasting and producing. In college, he wrote for The Daily Texan. He loves sports and enjoys hiking, kayaking and camping.

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