The introduction of video assistant referees has “finished” the debate about offside goals in football, FIFA president Gianni Infantino has claimed.

The use of video replays for the first time at a World Cup has been one of the stories of Russia 2018, although, as Infantino pointed out in Moscow on Friday, the torrent of stories about VAR in the opening weeks of the tournament has reduced to a trickle.

“That means it’s accepted, it’s working well,” said Infantino.

“The results – and I am speaking about facts, not words, feeling or perceptions – are extremely clear and positive,” he said.

“There have been over 400 incidents checked in the 62 games so far here, with 19 on-field reviews, so one every three or so games.

“Sixteen decisions have been changed from wrong to right. Now when you check the word progress in a dictionary it means ‘make things better’ – that is VAR. It’s not changing football, it’s making it better, cleaner.”