Fans Blast VAR After Uruguay Get Copa America Draw vs Japan

Video Assistant Referee (VAR) took centre stage once again as Uruguay managed a 2-2 draw against Japan in Copa America on Friday. Uruguay were awarded a penalty through a VAR decision while Japan were denied a penalty shoutout as a competitive battle was marred by refereeing calls.

Fans on social media were quick to blast VAR for inconsistency and taking supposedly wrong calls as Uruguay and Japan both now go into their final group matches with chances of advancing to the next round.

Koji Miyoshi put Japan ahead in the 25th minute of the match with a smart finish from a tight angle but just six minutes later, Uruguay were awarded a penalty and that Luis Suarez scored to bring Uruguay on level terms.

The teams went into the break with a 1-1 scoreline. Just a couple of minutes after the break, Shoya Nakajima seemed to have been brought down by Jose Gimenez in the box but Japan's penalty shoutout was waivered after a VAR check.

However, Miyoshi scored his second of the night in the 59th minute to put Japan in the lead once again but in the 66th minute, Gimenez scored a brilliant header off a gorgeous corner delivery by Nicolas Lodeiro.

Both teams created chances with Uruguay being more dominant and coming close to scoring another but in the end, the match ended at 2-2.

Despite a fabulously competitive battle on the field, fans took to Twitter to lash out at VAR. People were particularly unhappy with Uruguay getting a penalty decision.

Edinson Cavani and Naomichi Ueda were involved in the incident that led a VAR penalty decision in favour of Uruguay. Fans pointed out that it was Cavani who booted Ueda while the Japanese defender just put his foot up to block but VAR thought otherwise.

In the 47th minute of the match, Nakajima stunned the Uruguayan defence with some brilliant piece of trickery as he performed a beautiful piruvet with the ball to get away from the defenders.

As Nakajima turned around, it looked like Gimenez stuck his leg down to bring down the Japanese but despite a VAR check, Japan were not awarded a penalty.

Fans expressed their disbelief on the decision contesting how Japan did not get a penalty for that foul when Cavani had earlier the decision for almost a similar offence.