Former professional referee Dermot Gallagher has claimed the decision to award France a penalty in the World Cup Final was '100 per cent wrong'.
Les Bleus secured just their second World Cup title on Sunday with a 4-2 victory over Croatia but the game swung on a controversial moment at 1-1 in the first period when referee Nestor Pitana leant on the support of VAR to award a spot-kick.
Pitana initially decided against awarding a penalty after an inswinging corner narrowly missed the head of Blaise Matuidi before being helped away from danger via the arm of Croatia star Ivan Perisic.
A cluster of French players swiftly swarmed around the referee encouraging him to take a second look at the incident. Pitana eventually signalled for a VAR review and subsequently overturned his on-field call, giving a penalty which Antoine Griezmann dispatched to put France on course for victory.
Read More
"100 per cent not a penalty," Gallagher told Sky Sports. "He's far, far too close to the ball as it comes over the forward's head.
"It just strikes him - he doesn't move his hand to the ball, he's got no intention of handling the ball. The law says it has to be deliberate. His arms aren't in an unorthodox position - it just doesn't tick any boxes."