Video technology is not perfect, warns referee chief Riley

Fans told that the system being employed tonight will correct only blatant mistakes by officials

SPORTS NEWS CORRESPONDENT

Competitive English football finally enters the brave new world of video technology tonight, with the head of professional referees warning it will not make the game “100 per cent perfect”.

As exclusively revealed by The Daily Telegraph last month, this evening’s FA Cup third-round tie between Brighton and Hove Albion and Crystal Palace will stage the first live trial of so-called Video Assistant Referees in this country with a view to rolling the system out throughout the top end of the game next season.

The experiment will be the first of two inside three days, with Wednesday night’s Carabao Cup semi-final first leg between Chelsea and Arsenal also selected for what will be at least a dozen such tests before the end of the campaign.

The introduction of VAR has the potential to revolutionise the way the game is officiated but the general manager of Professional Game Match Officials Ltd, Mike Riley, said the “biggest challenge” with the technology would be educating players, managers and fans that it is neither a panacea for controversial calls nor will it “sanitise” a sport in which debatable decisions are a key part.

Stressing that VAR should only be used to overturn a “clear and obvious” error in four types of incidents – goals, straight red cards, penalties and mistaken identity – Riley said: “Video Assistant Refereeing is not about making a perfect game of football.

“It’s about saying, ‘Have the onfield refereeing team made a clear and obvious error?’ That’s the only question the VARS should ask.

“If the answer to that is ‘yes’, then you need to communicate with the referee. If the answer to that is ‘no’, then you keep out of it by letting the referee’s decision stand.”

Riley, who claimed the select group of professional referees made, on average, incorrect decisions only four per cent of the time, added: “If, through this, we make that four per cent two per cent, we’ve benefited the game.

“It will never be 100 per cent because it‘s so subjective on certain things and we’re asking the ‘clearand-obvious’ question.”

Riley used the example of the debatable penalty won by Wilfried Zaha against Manchester City last week to illustrate his point, warning such a decision would not be overturned using VAR irrespective of whether a spot-kick had been awarded.

Another feature of VAR protocol to which players, manager and fans may struggle to become accustomed is that it cannot be used to assess an incident if the current or former referee re-examining key incidents at the Stockley Park headquarters of Premier League Productions fails to intervene before play resumes after a stoppage.

Other quirks include the fact that it is possible for play to be brought all the way back for a penalty or straight red card offence even if a goal has been scored while the VAR is reviewing the footage.

Otherwise, a goal can only be disallowed using the technology if something is shown to have been amiss during the “attacking possession phase”, which Riley defined as “the move that immediately precedes that goal”.

There is also bound to be controversy about the protocol around yellow, and especially second yellow, cards, which can only be issued using VAR if such offences occur both as part of the four types of incident eligible for review and involve simulation, provocation, or deliberately handling the ball into the goal.

That means a let-off for players making a bookable tackle leading to a goal disallowed using VAR.

Something else to watch out for is referees waiting a few seconds before stopping play when an offside flag is raised in case the attacking team score from that move.

That is because, once the whistle is blown, a subsequent goal cannot be awarded using VAR even if replays show offside to have been the wrong call.

Riley stressed the decision of referees is final in a dispute between them and VARS and confirmed any player or manager putting undue pressure on officials to use VAR would be booked and/or sent off.

So far there have been around 500 experiments elsewhere using VAR but Riley said at least 3,000 were required to iron out any flaws.

He said the use of VAR could eventually be expanded and, with the International Football Association Board keen backers, it appears there is now no going back.

Like it or not, video technology is here to stay.

‘Have the officials made an obvious error? That’s the only question the VARS should ask’