As the minutes ticked by without an official replay of the offside lines, Neville’s frustration boiled over into a scathing assessment of FIFA’s operations. The former England international slammed the governing body for withholding evidence from the global audience, suggesting such secrecy was detrimental to the integrity of the game.
“It’s like a dictator. Honestly, it’s like a dictatorship, this,” Neville said in a furious rant. “The idea that they hold this evidence internally and don’t show fans of countries that are playing in tournaments. It’s absolutely ridiculous. Honestly, to not show the evidence of an offside. Prove to us it’s offside. Show it straight away. Why not the transparency?” Fellow pundit Ian Wright shared the sentiment, labeling the situation a “scandal”, while Lee Dixon, who was on co-commentary duty, was equally convinced of an error, stating: “There’s no doubt about the penalty but he’s offside. This won’t count.”
