Tony Chapron criticizes refereeing in Paraguay vs France World Cup match

Former international referee Tony Chapron has voiced sharp criticism regarding the performance of Uzbek official Ilgiz Tantashev during the World Cup Round of 16 match between France and Paraguay, which the French won 1:0.

Speaking as a consultant for Canal+, Chapron did not mince words, stating that the officiating looked like that of a "beginner or a district-level referee." He argued that the official failed to protect the team attempting to play attacking football.

When you have a match between Paraguay and France, you prepare for an attack-versus-defense scenario. You know the Paraguayan playing style, so your goal is to protect the team that wants to play. The exact opposite happened: he protected the Paraguayans who did whatever they wanted throughout the match, ultimately ruining it. Tony Chapron

Chapron further highlighted the issue of effective playing time, noting that with a total match duration of 103 minutes, the ball was in play for only 51 minutes—accounting for less than 50 percent of the total time.