VAR still hot issue in Europe
Six months after successfully making its World Cup debut in Russia, the video assistant referee (VAR) system remains a “work in progress” that continues to spark controversy across Europe’s top leagues.
“The VAR is like an airbag — it can help in case of emergency, but only in case of a real emergency,” is how former Swiss referee Urs Meier regards the system, which still draws mixed views on how best to be utilized.
In Germany, where the VAR is into its second season, video assistants are being instructed not to improve decisions — only to eradicate bad ones.
“The video assistant should not ask himself, ‘Did the referee make a good decision?’ On the contrary, the question should be ‘Did he make a bad decision?” said Jochen Drees, VAR project leader for the German Football Association.
In short, all matters of interpretation must be at the sole discretion of the referee on the pitch and the video assistant can only point out what he saw.
If the VAR reports an error, the referee must watch the replay and form his own opinion. No longer can a red card be shown or a goal disallowed based solely on the video assistant’s judgment.
The complaint of ‘double refereeing’ should disappear.
“The referee must under no circumstances make a decision if he has not looked at the incident himself,” said Drees.
Throughout Europe, the impact of the VAR has generally been positive.
“The video assistant referee has helped divide by three the number of errors impacting matches” said Pascal Garibian, chief of France’s referees.
However, the system continues to polarize opinions and there have been several examples of the technology breaking down during matches.
In a recent French league match, Monaco coach Thierry Henry was furious when the VAR stopped working, as his side was thumped 5-1 at home to Strasbourg. He felt his side should have been awarded a penalty.
“There was a foul on Rony Lopes in the box when it was 2-1,” said the 41-year-old. “The fourth official told me: ‘I’m really sorry Mr Henry, but VAR isn’t working ...”
In Spain a few days later, Luis Suarez scored for Barcelona in a 3-1 win over Leganes, which was convinced the star forward fouled its goalkeeper with a high foot, which the VAR missed.
“A blow to the VAR!” was the headline in the Madrid sports daily AS.
While the VAR system is a feature in the French, Spanish, Italian and German leagues, it is yet to be used in England’s Premier League and made the headlines for the wrong reason when used in the English League Cup.
Last month, Tottenham Hotspur head coach Mauricio Pochettino was “unhappy” with a decision that favored his side as it beat Chelsea 1-0 in the semifinal first leg via a penalty awarded by VAR.
Harry Kane scored the only goal at Wembley after the referee relied on the video assistant, but it took more than 90 seconds to confirm Kane had been onside before he was fouled.
“I don’t like the VAR,” Pochettino told Sky Sports.
“We get the benefit of it, but after watching the World Cup and another league like La Liga I see that nobody is happy from day one that they started to use it.”
Back in Germany, senior bosses are developing stricter protocols for communication between the referee and the video room, to hopefully speed up the decisionmaking process.
“For now, everyone still says what he thinks,” admitted Drees. “It’s going to take time to arrive at the right solution.”