At the Euro Cup, Whistle of Felix, Foot of Kane & Hand of God

Each year on June 22, devotees of the Church of Maradona pay homage to that one act of the man which they believe was his greatest miracle. This year, the 38th anniversary of the Hand of God goal fell during the Euros and Copa America football tournaments, giving it a newer meaning. Nothing like current-day top-drawer football to whip up trauma of an old robbery.In his retirement days, notoriously wild ones, Maradona wined and dined with the Tunisian referee Ali Bennaceur, who famously turned a blind eye to what is arguably the most polarising moment in world football – if you belonged to the North and Europe, this was the greatest act of cheating, if you came from the Global South, he was revered as God. Maradona would later obliquely admit that he did cheat, saying some years ago that that the goal would never have happened had video technology been available then. “I would have been arrested,” the Argentinian cheekily declared.Lucky break | In Munich at the Euros the other evening, England, who had been at the receiving end of Maradona’s sleight of hand in 1986, this time found technology coming to their aid. It was in the semifinals against the Netherlands, and it came in such a way, perhaps, that it was a gift that kept on giving.The last German left in their home competition – referee Felix Zwayer, who was once banned for six months in 2006 for match-fixing in the Bundesliga – awarded England a penalty midway through the first half, which Harry Kane duly converted in near-perfect fashion, ‘the impossible save’ as penalty spotters would exclaim. The equaliser would completely change the balance of the high-stakes semifinals in the world’s second-most watched football tournament, shifting the momentum favourably towards England and pushing on to the backfoot, the Dutch who had taken an early lead thanks to a terrific strike by their prodigious Xavi Simons.Unlucky tech | What happened really? This modern-day Foot of Kane has immediately caused so much turmoil among fans the world over, debating the invasion of technology to arbitrate in sport, the rigid interpretations of the rules and crucially, whether the human element is slowly being made to leave the scene.Ominous review | Zwayer initially seemed to think nothing of the Kane attempt that ballooned over the Dutch goal and the immediate writhing on the floor clutching his right foot that followed, after Dutch defender Denzel Dumfries’ extended foot caught the England captain’s in mid-flight. Ball back in play, the referee blew for a Dutch goal-kick to resume hostilities till he got a call on his earpiece summoning him to the side-line TV – a visit to the in-stadium ATM, as the harmless old joke goes, but in this case, given that the German referee had once been on the take, it assumed ominous overtones.Cold VAR bosses | TV replays showed that Dumfries’ was a reaction attempt to block the shot, as any defender’s job description is, and was in no way a tackle on Kane. But the call from the VAR room probably meant to invoke cold letter of the law, rather than personal interpretation. VAR bosses deemed Dumfries intent as carrying enough injury threat, even if contact was made after Kane had got his shot. Perhaps, the enormity of the situation got to the German referee, somewhere seeking to correct his previously tarnished image, and this was perhaps a perfect opportunity to make amends.Football’s not cricket | In cricket, the advent of technology to decide leg-before appeals, caught behinds and run-outs – even WT20 final deciding catches, as happened on the Bridgetown ropes the other day – has kind of saved the on-field umpire from crucial decision making, and thus, you could argue, relieving him of any moral dilemma and responsibility in case of an error. But the one thing that they have retained so far is the umpire’s call, which gives the man at the stumps the onus to change or stick to his original decision. In football, with the stakes riding so high, a visit to the TV usually means a reversal of the referee’s original decision, almost as a moral obligation. Yet, in the Spain-Germany quarterfinal, England referee Anthony Taylor – who gave out 15 yellow and one red cards – was firm in his interpretation of Spanish defender Marc Cucurella’s handball as being not deliberate.Foggy French | Another counter to last night’s penalty goal, could be the recent French Open tennis final between Alexander Zverev and Carlos Alcaraz. On a crucial point in the deciding fifth set, a disputed line call went in favour of the Spaniard. Replays later clearly showed it was out, but at the traditionalist Open, where calls are decided by the ball marking on the clay, the chair umpire insisted that it was in. The German Zverev lost the final, and later rued the absence of electronic line calling at the clay court Major. The French Open will introduce the technology from next year onwards, but for the record, Zverev would have been deprived of a great chance. “It is what it is,” he would philosophically say later.Burying the ghost | “It is what it is,” is probably what the Dutch would be telling themselves as they head home, and also, what Kane and Co would be beginning to understand. That finally, after years of injustice, and years of feeling robbed by Maradona in 1986, the shoe is on the other foot – the Foot of Kane.