NO says ex-ref Chris FOY

I WOULD have loved to have had VAR when I was refereeing. I could drive home without wondering whether I had made a mistake that had an impact on the game. As referees, we always want to get every decision right and VAR provides that safety blanket.

I think the Premier League is ready for it. The guys have been training for more than two years now. Nearly 70 live matches, nine tournaments at St George’s Park for testing, offline testing in 15 Premier League match days. We are in a really good place.

In the 69 live matches, VAR overturned 14 decisions: six goals, six penalties and two red cards. The average delay to the restart was 84 seconds. When the average time it takes a team to score and get back to kick-off again is 62 seconds, we feel that addition is a fair trade-off.

Delays are sometimes inevitable but you don’t want to see games add on 10 or 11 minutes. We need to keep the pace and intensity of Premier League football. That is why we want our officials to use the monitors much less frequently as it takes about 90 seconds to get over to the screen. The on-field official will still have the final decision but we are happy for them to act on the VAR’s advice.

The thing to remember is that it is not the VAR’s job to re-referee the game. They can have a personal view of the decision but it all comes down to whether the on-field official has made a ‘clear and obvious error’. And the Premier League has set a high bar for what constitutes that.

While the laws regarding handball have changed, and now talk about a defender’s body being in an unnatural position, the Premier League will be viewing handballs as they have over a few seasons. The laws are the same for everyone but it is how you interpret them. We don’t want to see defenders with their arms stuck behind their backs. That is not a natural position.

What everyone needs to remember is that VAR is an ever-evolving process. The current incarnation is actually version 14!

What it means is that it is going to take some time to get to a place where everyone is happy with it. It is not going to be perfect straight away.

If you look at other sports, like cricket and rugby, it took them around seven years to get it to where they are now. We are only three years on. This is the first season we are seeing VAR in the Premier League. It will take time. You are never going to get 100 per cent agreement because of the subjective nature of some of the calls.

Give it a chance. VAR was voted in unanimously by Premier League clubs and all of our officials have been trained and tested to make sure it turns into something that works. There will still be talking points, there will still be controversy and there will still be drama. That is why we all love the Premier League.