VAR is sucking the charm out of our sport, says

DENMARK coach Age Hareide had no complaints over the award of a VAR-assisted penalty to Group C opponents Australia yesterday — but believes the technology is removing the “charm” from the World Cup.

The two sides had to settle for a share of the spoils as the use of VAR again took centre stage at the Samara Arena.

Christian Eriksen had put Denmark ahead with a superbly-taken strike, only for Mile Jedinak to level from the penalty spot and secure a 1-1 draw.

Both nations can still advance into the knockout stages with a final game remaining in a group which has been dominated by video assistant decisions.

Jedinak converted from 12 yards after VAR helped Spanish referee Antonio Mateu Lahoz adjudge that Yussuf Poulsen had handled a header inside the box.

Peru missed a VAR-awarded penalty against the Danes in their first game, while Australia will feel justice has been served after they conceded a debatable penalty following video replays in the loss to France.

Hareide did not dispute the decision of Lahoz to point to the spot after reviewing the first-half incident but feels VAR is having a negative impact on the game.

“I do believe it was a penalty but the whole issue with VAR is that there are people somewhere in Russia deciding to look at this situation because it looks like a penalty,” he said.

“That is okay, but there were other situations where they should have stopped it to look at what actually happened but they are not doing that, so who decides? Is it the referee on the pitch or someone watching in a dark room somewhere else?

“To me, it was probably correct, but it does remove a bit of the charm of football to have such a precise system.

“Goal-line technology is okay,