Upon further review, let’s lose it
Another sport infected by the insidious virus of video replay review.
Poor soccer. In this case, poor Major League Soccer. MLS is learning that following other sports and leagues down this particular rabbit hole in the holy pursuit of “getting it right” tends not to ameliorate controversy but rather stokes the flames of discontent.
In particular, using replay review to adjudicate rulings that were judgment calls in the first place — such as goalie interference in the NHL, pass interference in football or offside in soccer — just adds another layer of interpretation to an issue.
Since MLS instituted video review in the 22nd week of its season last year — in itself, a strange way to bring in such an intrusive element — the league has found itself increasingly enmeshed in problems it didn’t have before.
On Saturday at BMO Field, in a game between Toronto FC and the Chicago Fire, we saw what a mess it has all become.
There were four instances on which video review appeared to be used, and a fifth on which perhaps it should have been. We say “appeared” because MLS fans watching at home and in the stadium were left befuddled as to what referee Alan Kelly was actually calling on his own, and what he was sending to the eye in the sky, known in rather Orwellian terms as the video assistant referee (VAR).
Fans in their seats at BMO Field were sometimes told a play was being reviewed, but afterwards there was no declaration other than a goal being disallowed or allowed, and no explanation given over the public address system.
Watching on television it wasn’t much better, although at least they were able to show a play repeatedly when it seemed to be under review. Fans at the stadium didn’t get that benefit.
On the first instance, Kelly appeared to call upstairs on a Jonathan Osorio goal that looked offside, but was allowed. On the second, Sebastien Giovinco scored on a feed from Nicolas Hasler, but Hasler was clearly offside and review caught him. The goal was waved off. What Kelly himself was actually calling on either play was anyone’s guess.
The third incident was the most ridiculous. Ashton Morgan went to pass the ball inside the Toronto crease area to a teammate, but at the last moment Chicago’s Nemanja Nikolic slipped inside and Mor- gan accidentally booted him in the foot. This being soccer, Nikolic went down as if caught by sniper fire and rolled his way towards the Toronto net in apparent agony.
The referee didn’t seem to call anything, but then went to the sideline to confer with video review. He then came back, made a signal in the air with his fingers mimicking a square — a TV set — and gave Chicago a penalty kick. Bastian Schweinsteiger, the great German World Cup star, delivered something less than what he once would have, and Toronto goalie Alex Bono turned it away. But that didn’t really explain why Schweinsteiger had been given the free shot in the first place. Or who had made the decision. And what the decision was.
Later, in the 69th minute, Schweinsteiger’s header cut Toronto 2-0 lead in half, although he or Nikolic appeared to have played the ball in an offside position. Again, Kelly seemed to confer with video replay, or with somebody, and then he simply signalled the goal was good. Again, no expla- nation. Confusion all around.
In the final minutes, Toronto’s Liam Fraser cleared the ball off the end line, and it looked awfully close to being over the line. A perfect use for video replay. Either the ball was in or out. Instead, it wasn’t used. Or maybe it was. Who knows?
MLS is one of the first soccer leagues in the world to institute video review, and it can be used for four eligible situations: goals, penalty kicks, red cards and cases of mistaken identity. Initially, there was one review every three games or so, but as we saw on Saturday, that seems to be increasing. There was a massive controversy in California on the weekend over ways in which video review was and wasn’t used in a win by the New York Red Bulls over the L.A. Galaxy.
“I think VAR is a complete waste of time,” said Galaxy goalie David Bingham afterwards. “What’s the point? We’ve had four goals called back, I think, and two of them were blatantly onside. How are you reviewing that? Is it two guys who are incompetent and can’t see it?”
Germany’s Bundesliga and Italy’s Serie A are using VAR, while the English Premier League decided against it for the 2018-19 season. In particular, EPL officials cited problems with communicating to fans and TV viewers when VAR was being used.
In a bizarre Bundesliga scene last month, a referee waved off an apparent handball and blew the whistle for halftime, sending the teams to their respective dressing rooms. He then went to VAR, changed his call and brought the teams back on to the pitch just for a penalty kick. Last year, the head of VAR in the Bundesliga was removed after a newspaper report accused him of match fixing.
FIFA has voted to use video review in the World Cup in Russia this summer, and that smells like big trouble. In a game in late March between England and Italy, video review awarded the Italians a penalty kick and allowed them to salvage a 1-1 tie in the 87th minute. Just imagine how that’s going to go over in a World Cup elimination match.
We know the disaster that awaits the NHL if this year’s Stanley Cup final goes down to video review of an offside or goalie interference call. These leagues seem to view video review as either progress or some kind of panacea, but it’s neither. On calls that are a matter of opinion and judgment, video seems to offer little or no clarity much of the time.
Just different headaches.