A STEP TOO VAR?
It will be at the World Cup, but Premier League clubs could ditch review system in April vote
PREMIER LEAGUE clubs will decide in April whether to bring in VAR next season amid growing doubts about whether the technology is ready.
It comes after the latest VAR shambles during Manchester United’s FA Cup win at Huddersfield which saw Juan Mata have a goal chalked off as offside after video replays.
That left United boss Jose Mourinho angry, while former referee Graham Poll questioned if the technology will be ready for next season.
Mirror Sport understands there are growing concerns among the top-flight clubs even though it seems inevitable VAR will be used at the World Cup this summer.
Clubs are set to discuss it in April and then decide if it is viable to use it from next season in the Premier League, which was the original plan.
Governing body IFAB is expected to rubber-stamp the use of VAR at the World Cup even though there are concerns in English football after the experiment in the FA Cup and League Cup. Germany’s Bundesliga has also had teething problems.
It is believed there are complaints from referees about whether they are getting good enough pictures and
footage at the VAR headquarters at Stockley Park to make video decisions.
The latest came after BT Sport used pictures with crooked lines on their freezeframe footage to show that Mata was offside before putting the ball in the net.
Referee bosses later insisted to the TV station they were not the pictures used by VAR official Neil Swarbrick back at base more than 200 miles away. Referee Kevin Friend held up the game for more than a minute after Mata had already started celebrating – and then disallowed the goal despite even TV pictures not looking conclusive. Former World Cup referee Poll questioned whether VAR would be ready for use in the Premier League next season, and insisted it is currently ruining games. TV pundit Poll also insisted the pictures with the crooked lines – which were used on BT Sport – had been sent over. Poll said: “We were seeing these lines 45 minutes before kickoff, it’s clearly not right, then we’re being told they are not the pictures they are seeing. It’s so close, it’s such a tight decision, we’ve got to be sure and a referee hates going away from a game with us talking about a refereeing decision. All we’re talking about from this game is VAR. It’s unsatisfactory.
“We’ve got a World Cup when VAR will be used. But I can’t see anything but mistakes and delays, and what we’re looking for is an enjoyable game of football.
“We were worried about technology spoiling the flow of the game and from what we’re seeing that’s the case.”
Hawkeye bosses admitted the error during the Huddersfield-Manchester United game was down to them – but claimed the right image was used by the VAR.
A company statement said: “A technical issue led to an incorrect graphic being provided by Hawkeye to BT Sport.
To confirm, the VAR saw the correct image with the correct lines to make the decision.”