UEFA must face serious questions about how it handled the Barnabus Varga incident

With play halted for over five minutes, one can only imagine how difficult it was for them to get back into the swing of things. After 70 bitter, gruelling minutes against Scotland, there was still a game to win, a qualification to be secured. The fact that Hungary not only pulled themselves together but secured the win with a highly inspired stoppage-time goal from Kevin Csoboth was testament to their extraordinary courage under pressure.

It was officially the latest goal in European Championship history. And it was one that Csoboth acknowledged after the fact by holding up Varga’s shirt. Hard to believe, the official TNT Sports football account tweeted that the dedication was for a “fatal collision” before hastily deleting the message. According to Hungarian media, Varga, who plays for Ferencvaros Budapest, never lost consciousness. Doctors put a neck brace on him before taking him to hospital.

While there is overwhelming relief at Varga’s health, UEFA must answer serious questions about how it handled this episode. Why did the directors of the home broadcast immediately zoom in on the stricken player when memories of Eriksen’s cardiac arrest were still so fresh? And why did it take so long for Szoboszlai to understand the gravity of the situation and have to carry the stretcher himself?

Logan immediately drew the parallel with Eriksen. “We were as shocked as you were when they repeated that incident,” she said. “After Christian Eriksen three years ago, there are protocols for such incidents. We were very surprised that UEFA decided to play from that angle, so we switched to a wide angle as quickly as possible.”