VAR is bad in England but in Scotland it’s farcical and on another level
Former top ref says match officials are like puppets under system
JEFF WINTER says misuse of VAR in Scottish football has turned Premiership refs into PUPPETS.
The former English top-flight whistler spoke out 18 months ago to predict an upturn in chaos and controversy as technology was ushered in.
That’s all come to pass but Winter, below, reckons the reality this season is far worse than he feared.
The SFA referee department is in crisis as head man Crawford Allan stepped down and chief exec Ian Maxwell blasted a “blame culture” among clubs.
Motherwell became the latest club to hit out, saying they and their fans have had enough.
And Winter insists managers, players, fans and REFS have a right to be angry at decisions ruining games.
He believes officials are afraid to stick to their guns and apply common sense when alerted by the VAR booth.
And that’s led to ‘ ludicrous’ penalty decisions for minor and unintentional handball incidents determining the outcome of games. Winter said: “Irrespective of what people think of match officials, if you referee in Scotland’s top flight you’ve got there on the strength of experience and confidence over a long period.
“Well, all that confidence and experience is going out the window.
“We all know, 99 times out of 100, what happens when the referee is called to the monitor.
“You imagine having Scotland’s top referee – or a very experienced VAR – calling you across.
“If the No.1 guy is saying: ‘ You should have a look at this’, it’s putting immense pressure on you to change your mind. “You’re either brave or foolish to disobey your senior colleagues or bosses in any job in any walk of life.
“The one that Scotland seems keen on is interpretation of the handball.
“Down south, they’ve got that wrong. In Scotland, they’ve taken it to another degree.
“I’ve been at games and watched games on TV where handball decisions are farcical.
“It’s supposed to be about unnatural positions. But we all know it’s impossible to jump for the bal l without some movement of your arms.
“Rather than VAR helping match officials, it’s ridiculing them. They’re being made to look like puppets. It’s chaos.”
Most managers welcomed VAR but Winter believes the product isn’t acting as advertised to them by the SFA.
Booth officials study the most minute detail to flag up when clear and obvious errors were believed to be priority.
Winter insists that’s made the product poorer for paying fans who might find football outside the Premiership more palatable.
Winter said: “The whole idea of VAR was to eradicate errors and sort out problems.
“From what I see, the only thing they seem happy with is getting it spot-on that someone’s toenail has put them in an offside position, ruling out fantastic goals.
“Worryingly, I see examples where a match official thinks: ‘I don’t know, let’s see what VAR says’. They’re stopping making decisions.
“The old ‘we’re not going to re-referee the game’ was trotted out. But that’s exactly what’s happening.
“It seems the VAR man has the ultimate control on decisions rather than the match referees. A lot of the excitement, flow and continuity of the game has been killed.”
Winter believes all parties must come together this summer to thrash out a better future for VAR.
“A meeting at the end of this season in Scotland would seem to be sensible,” he said.
“The SFA has to listen to the key people. Thathat must include thehe honest opinions of their own match officials and managers and clubs.
“Something must change because we can’t go on with this angst and confusion.”
For now, Winter fears the worst with eight games left for most clubs including two Old Firm clashes that could decide the Premiership crown.
Winter said: “Before the end of this season, a VAR decision is going to be blamed on the outcome of the title.
“It’s tighter than for many years. It will be lovely if it can be decided on football grounds, rather than the interpretation of VAR or what all of us think is a crazy way to react to the ball brushing someone’s arm.”
A VAR decision will be blamed on the outcome of title before thee season ends JEFF JEFFWINTER WINTER