DEBATE VAR FROM OVER
A-League braced for more anger at ref system
FOOTBALL: A-League bosses will face down more angry criticism of the beleaguered video referee system, in the hope that quicker communication with fans and TV viewers will neutralise some of the antipathy that boiled over during Sydney FC’s derby win on Saturday night.
The second weekend of the A-League season was again dominated by furious debate about the VAR, even after a match-changing decision that FFA insists was correct but which exposed major communication issues around the video review system.
There was initial incredulity at the decision to disallow Western Sydney’s goal with half an hour left, apparently because of a foul by Jaushua Sotirio on Michael Zullo in the build up. Only after the game did referee Chris Beath clarify that Sotirio had actually been ruled to be in an offside position.
To cloud matters further, Beath had signalled for a direct free-kick after reviewing the incident on his sideline monitor, as opposed to the signal for an indirect free-kick which an offside call would have led to.
Football Federation Australia declined to comment further yesterday, despite the torrent of criticism, believing that Beath’s decision was correct under FIFA laws which rule that a player becomes “actively” offside after “making an obvious action which clearly impacts on the ability of an opponent to play the ball”.
But having already tried unsuccessfully to persuade FIFA to sanction the broadcast of the audio between the referee and his VAR, as happens in other sports including cricket, ALeague bosses are likely to seek urgent ways to give supporters and viewers immediate understanding of what is being checked as an incident unfolds.
The league is braced for further demands for the system to be suspended, after Fox pundit and former Socceroos Mark Bosnich said it was alienating fans from the game.
Yesterday Bosnich repeated his call, that “it needs to be put on hold, to give the refs the chance to regroup”.
“In my view Sotirio can’t be interfering with play because Zullo runs into him – and that debate means it’s not a clear and obvious error, which is how this system was sold to us as solving”.
A-LEAGUE SCORES: Adelaide Utd 1 Newcastle 1; Central Coast 1 Melb City 1; Sydney FC 2 Wanderers 0. Played last night: Brisbane v Wellington, Melb Victory v Perth.