SFA official believes SPFL is ready to adopt video- assisted refs
HEY said you couldn’t put a man on the moon. They said that Trump would never become president. They said they would never believe it wasn’t butter. They also said you would never get video technology in football. Yet, as the ever-rotating wheels of progress continue to motor across foreign lands, the manoeuvring of the next motion to bring the game into the 21st century is already gathering at pace.
Getting those in charge of football to be swept along by the winds of change has often resembled the titanic struggle to get Chewbacca to deal with his split ends. No matter how much you try, there’s no convincing the stubborn Wookiee that he is in fact worth it.
Indeed, it took the Auld Enemy to be robbed of a goal against Germany back in the 2010 World Cup for those sentimental souls at FIFA to be cajoled into action on the hot topic of goal-line technology, a nifty piece of kit that is now prevalent across some of the biggest leagues in the world. The maiden use of it came some 13 years after Hawk-Eye was first rolled out back in 2001 at Lord’s Cricket Ground. Those of us who spend our time dealing with matters of a Scottish nature of course don’t have to worry about such gadgetry. Well, not yet.
Further advancements inspired by other sports may one day find themselves to a sub-zero stadium near you. Trials have already been carried out to test out a form of review similar to the TMO (television match official) system employed in rugby union. Named VAR (video assistant referee), the International Football Association Board has witnessed positive results from initial tests carried out at the FIFA Club World Cup as well as in the Netherlands, including how much disruption is made to game flow. The system revolves around a VAR informing the referee if a clear error has been made, but the official on the park can look at footage himself for matters of interpretation, and could be ratified as early as next year.
“I’ve been involved in it for two years,” said John Fleming, the Scottish Football Association’s head of referee operations. “VAR will progress depending on the results of experiments worldwide. There has been a lot of interest in this system to IFAB more than any other experiment they have run. Even goal-line technology.
“It’s what is considered to be a clear error by the match referee and that would instigate the VAR. There’s areas such as goals, the penalty area, mistaken identity and red card offences. They are the four headlines, and that would potentially prompt the referee. The experiments are going well just now. They are beyond the expectations I would say listening to the reports from IFAB, and there is an appetite for video assistant referees. “We are now on to live interaction with the VAR. They are monitoring it all, they are seeing how many times we intervene, how long it takes to look at the decision and come out with an outcome. They then need to move forward. Every country is following the exact same procedure. “It’s about minimum interference with maximum outcome. That’s what we are looking for. It will develop as we go on, and the results I’d consider to be relatively favourable.” The topic of refereeing has not been far away over a controversial weekend in Scottish football. On Saturday, Andrew Dallas came under fire from Motherwell manager Mark McGhee for showing Carl McHugh a straight red card. The man in the middle also booked Hearts’ Malaury Martin for fouling Louis Moult, only for video footage to clearly show the Fir Park striker tripped up over his own man. Meanwhile, elite referee Craig Thomson was blasted by St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright on Sunday over Celtic being awarded a penalty for a hand-ball howler.
Fleming (left) refused to comment on those individual cases, but reiterated the message that any VAR would be to assist referees, not undermine them.
“In 2017, anything that can be introduced to relieve the decisionmaking on such tight decisions where it’s sometime a question of speed or a fine line – was the player offside or on – would be welcomed,” he said.
“I don’t know anyone in the refereeing movement I speak to that would be different.
“It would be welcomed if it assisted the referee in decision-making when it is factual. Where it is a matter of opinion we will always have discussion or debate. You will show a clip and 50 per cent will say yes and 50 per cent will say no. That’s human nature, and that’s where it becomes more difficult.”
Fleming also refused to rule out the possibility of Scottish referees going full-time at some point in the future. A criticism levelled at our whistlers has revolved around the fact they juggle careers with their ambitions on a weekend, unlike our English cousins.
“I don’t know if it’s a possibility, again things are governed around resource and finance,” he said. “Fulltime referees would certainly enhance refereeing, but it’s just a question of whether that can be financed. If you are full-time and have a good rest period in a build-up, it does make you better prepared.
“It’s not something I’ve spoken to the SFA about. But we wouldn’t have looked at goal-line technology five years ago, we wouldn’t have looked at video assistant referees three years ago. The whole game evolves.” Motherwell have not lodged an appeal against the sending off branded ’shocking’ and ‘a joke’ by manager Mark McGhee at the weekend. Carl McHugh was shown a straight red card for a lunging challenge on Don Cowie in the 53rd minute of the 3-0 defeat to Hearts. With the score still goalless at the time, McGhee insisted referee Andrew Dallas’s decision had been the reason for his team’s defeat. He said: “I’ve watched it over and over again and never in a million years is it a red card. It’s a joke. “It’s a great tackle, he’s won the ball. “It’s a ridiculous decision and it’s cost us the game.” St Johnstone manager Tommy Wright has buried the hatchet with referee Craig Thomson after a clear the air call, The Perth boss was highly critical of Thomson’s controversial calls in Sunday’s 5-2 defeat from Celtic. The Ulsterman was furious at Thomson’s decision to award Celtic a second-half penalty for handball against Keith Watson with Saints defending a 2-1 lead. But the Perth boss last night revealed the experienced official had been in touch to talk through the controversial calls. Wright refused to divulge details of the conversation but stressed: “I really appreciate Craig taking the time to ring me.”