Allegri fears video ref turning soccer into baseball

Ribery out for ‘weeks’ over torn knee ligament — club

BERGAMO, Italy, Oct 2, (AFP): Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri fears the use of video refereeing is turning football into a long-drawn out American sports extravaganza after the Serie A champions drew 2-2 at Atalanta.

Sunday’s game in Bergamo was dominated by the use of VAR — video assistant referee — once to cancel a Mario Mandzukic goal for Juventus and the second awarding the Turin side a contentious penalty after a handball.

“We’ll end up like baseball in the United States, where there are constant stoppages and we sit there eating nuts until the match ends at midnight,” complained Allegri after his side saw their winning run this season stalled.

“In my view, technology should only be used on objective situations — offside, in or out of the box, over the line or not — but when it comes to subjective situations, people are never going to agree. That’s sport.

“If we want football to be a sport that is no longer a sport, then use VAR on every incident.”

Bayern Munich confirmed on Monday that veteran winger Franck Ribery will be out for “the coming weeks” after tearing a knee ligament.

The 34-year-old had to be helped off in the 62nd minute of Bayern’s 2-2 draw at Hertha Berlin on Sunday and German media expect the Frenchman to be out for up to three months.

Bayern said Ribery’s affected left knee will be “treated conservatively and rested for several weeks with a splint”.

That means he will not undergo an operation.

Ribery has already begun rehabilitation but further therapy and training will be decided at a later date depending on the healing process, the Bundesliga champions said.

“We are sorry that Franck has injured himself. We wish him a swift and good recovery,” said Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.

Earlier, broadcaster Sky had reported that Ribery would be out for between two and three months.