The chip inside the World Cup ball did not detect a touch from Cristiano Ronaldo (adidas)
Adidas has confirmed that Cristiano Ronaldo did not get a touch on Bruno Fernandes’ cross during Portugal’s 2-0 win over Uruguay at the World Cup on Monday evening.
Ronaldo claimed he got a touch on Fernandes’ delivery to open the scoring for Portugal in the second half but television replays could not prove that the 37-year-old had made contact with the ball.
Ronaldo, who is the only male player to score at five World Cups, continued to argue with the decision after the full-time whistle and appeared frustrated that Fernandes had been credited with the goal.
But adidas, who placed a sensor inside the World Cup ball, have announced that no touch from Ronaldo was detected.
The technology inside the ball can detect when a player touches the ball and the information is passed instantaneously to Video Assistant Referees.
The heartbeat detection shows Bruno Fernandes putting the cross into Uruguay’s box (adidas)
Cristiano Ronaldo claimed he got a touch on Bruno Fernandes’ cross (adidas)
The ball heartbeat detection picked up again when it touched the ground (adidas)
‘In the match between Portugal and Uruguay, using the Connected Ball Technology housed in adidas’s Al Rihla Official Match Ball, we are able to definitively show no contact on the ball from Cristiano Ronaldo for the opening goal in the game,’ a statement from FIFA on behalf of adidas read.
‘No external force on the ball could be measured as shown by the lack of ‘heartbeat’ in our measurements.
‘The 500Hz IMU sensor inside the ball allows us to be highly accurate in our analysis.’
The World Cup ball includes a 500Hz inertial measurement unit (IMU) motion sensor inside (adidas)
After the game, Piers Morgan claimed he had received a message from Ronaldo insisting that he did get a touch on the ball.
Meanwhile, Fernandes said he believed Ronaldo did make contact with his cross.
‘I celebrated as if it had been Cristiano’s goal,’ Fernandes said.
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‘It seemed to me that he had touched the ball, my objective was to make a cross for him.
‘Regardless, we are happy for the victory, if one of us scores or the other does.’
Portugal play South Korea in their final game in Group H on Friday and are in pole position to finish in top spot.
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World Cup 2022: your FAQs answered
Ronaldo was clearly unhappy that he was not credited with the goal.
