World Cup has been VAR from damaged by new system
GIVING his reasons why VAR would not be introduced into the Champions League for the 2018-19 season, UEFA head honcho Aleksander Ceferin said the following.
“The Champions League is like a Ferrari or a Porsche, you can’t drive it right away, you need training and testing offline.”
Back in April, he went on to say he had seen some “comical situations” with VAR and that he had “some concerns” about its use at the World Cup.
“I hope there are no scandals or problems,” the UEFA president added.
Well, Ceferin (right) has been a fixture in VIP seats across Russia over the past three weeks and has certainly seen no scandals.
Problems? Possibly. Vincent Kompany might have got away with one on Gabriel Jesus in Friday’s classic.
But nothing serious to write home about.
According to the International Football Associations Board (IFAB), the game’s rule-makers and law enforcers, referees, with the aid of VAR, now get 99.3 per cent of decisions correct, as opposed to 95 per cent without its help.
Who decides what is correct and what isn’t is a moot point.
In tennis, Hawkeye claims it has only a 3.6mm margin of error. Great. How do we know? Who hawkeyes Hawkeye?
The IFAB’S “correct” might not be my “correct” or your “correct”, but there is an indisputable fact. And that is there has to be more chance of coming to a fairer decision if key moments are not judged in the blink of one eye.
Even the naysayers would not argue with that.
Those vehemently against VAR, along with the many – including myself – who have reservations, basically fear for the fluidity of a match. Yet there are not many football-watchers who would frown at the entertainment levels of this tournament. For excitement and quality, it is being widely acclaimed as one of the most attractive in living memory. Most of the statistics have a positive hue. Of the previous four World Cups, only one has produced a better goalsper-game ratio and the 2.67 average of 2014 could yet be bettered. It might well be a coincidence, but player behaviour has take an upward turn. It does not look like it at times, especially with the injuryfeigning, diving and haranguing of referees, but, remarkably, there have been only four red cards. In 2002, there were 17 in total, 28 in 2006, 17 in 2010 and 2014 saw 10 brandished. The bottom line is that those convinced the introduction of VAR would have a deeply derogatory effect on football as a spectacle have been provided with little substance for their argument.
That makes UEFA’S delay in introducing it seem pointless. Ditto the Premier League. Richard Scudamore said the decision of the clubs was testament to how much faith they had in brilliant English referees.
So brilliant, not one of them got the call from FIFA for this World Cup. They need all the help they can get.
Ceferin is right to be proud of UEFA’S flagship club competition, but the World Cup – not the Champions League – is the Ferrari of football.
If VAR can work here, it can work anywhere and delaying its implementation in both the Champions League and the Premier League is pointless. It is coming to a game near you. Get on with it.