Victory benefit from VAR technical blooper

A “technical failure” in the video review system, the same technology which will be used at next month’s World Cup in Russia, resulted in the incorrect awarding of the goal that ultimately decided the A-League championship.

The Football Federation of Australia conducted a review into the decision to allow a hotly-disputed goal from All White Kosta Barbarouses in the Melbourne Victory’s 1-0 win over the Newcastle Jets in Saturday night’s A-League grand final.

Television replays showed that James Donachie, who assisted in the goal, was in an offside position, so the goal should have been disallowed. But the FFA said the Video Assistant Referee, who adjudicated on the goal, did not have access to the same footage because of a technical glitch, so allowed the goal to stand.

The FFA’s head of the A-League, Greg O’Rourke, said the FFA’s review determined a technical malfunction was to blame.

O’Rourke said the Hawkeye software that uploads the broadcast feed into the VAR system was partially lost just seconds before Victory’s goal, and by the time it was restored, it was too late to change the decision because the match had restarted.

“VAR was introduced here and in other parts of the world as a technology-based solution to correct the human errors that are made from time to time when officials are making judgements in split seconds,” said O’Rourke. “On this occasion, the technology itself failed and the broadcast angles required were unavailable.”

Newcastle hadn’t appeared in a grand final since winning their only A-League title in 2008, while Melbourne secured their fourth title. — AP