SEEING THE BIG
Explaining VAR is key to a smoother introduction in Scottish Premiership, says SFA chief Maxwell
TEETHING problems are inevitable. And, in the peace-averse fiefdom that is Scottish football, arguments are guaranteed. When the Premiership season resumes the day before the final of the Qatar World Cup in December, it will do so under the watchful eye of a set of video assistant referees, hunkered down at a secret location somewhere off the M8.
The decision to introduce VAR technology mid-season is, in and of itself, already a bone of contention. You can set your watch on the first manager legitimately denied a goal via VAR referring back to a similar incident in which an opposing team scored in the first half of the campaign.
There are also likely to be accusations that the Premiership set-up will be inferior to its equivalent south of the border.
Such complaints will be valid simply because the same volume and variety of camera angles will not be available to the remote match officials at the majority of fixtures.
Even before the SPFL clubs voted overwhelming to introduce VAR in April at a cost of £1.2million per year, the SFA had been training its match officials on the implementation of the new technology.
Four years into his tenure as the association’s chief executive, Ian Maxwell insists its limitations will be offset by a marked upturn in the number of big decisions being called correctly.
‘It’s obviously a more limited system and that’s just down to circumstance and resource,’ says Maxwell (below). ‘But we have a system we are confident is going to give us enough camera angles.
‘We wouldn’t do this if it was halfbaked. The worst thing we could have in the first couple of weeks of VAR is an angle that nobody can see or a decision we can’t make — you can imagine the reaction to that.
‘We are part of IFAB, so we know that FIFA are looking at a video support system which is effectively three iPhones stuck on a pylon around a pitch. Now that’s basic and primitive and my view on that is you either have something worthwhile or you have the match official — something in between just causes problems.
‘We have a six-camera system that’s been used in a lot of other countries and there are very few incidents that you can’t get a good camera angle on. It just comes down to resource. We would love to have 16, 24 or whatever the Sky cameras set-up is, but unfortunately we don’t have the finance for that.’
Although it will be another six months before VAR is rolled out in Scotland, the issue of officiating is topical thanks to the surprise defection of one of our game’s top referees Bobby Madden. The 43-year-old is heading south and will officiate in the EFL next season but Maxwell refutes the suggestion that his departure could set a pattern for more of the game’s top officials to leave for pastures new.
‘My understanding is that it’s a work-related decision,’ he says.
‘I mean, Bobby is going to be refereeing in League One, he’s not going to be doing any UEFA games. So it’s not a referee-based decision because it doesn’t make any sense in that context.
‘If we didn’t have VAR coming in, there would maybe be an argument that he wants to go and work on that circuit but we have that now.
‘I’m delighted we’ve got it. If you look at it from a national association perspective, it’s about the match officials and supporting them in terms of recruitment and retention.
‘They want to referee at the top level in the same way that players want to play at the top level, and they wouldn’t get FIFA or UEFA matches if they’re not using VAR on a regular basis. So it’s hugely important from that point of view.
‘It’s going to be a really interesting one. To be honest, I think training the referees and implementing the technology is the straightforward bit. We have got a real job to do in terms of educating the Press, supporters, managers, players.’
At its most basic level, communication will also be an issue on match day. Not every stadium in the Premiership has an electronic scoreboard available to inform the spectators that a check is ongoing.
‘Fans and media will need to know if there’s a VAR check happening,’ continues Maxwell.
‘Some of our grounds have screens, some just have scoreboards or LED boards, everybody has a PA.
‘We are speaking to HawkEye and other countries to understand how they do it because that can’t be a Scotland-only problem. The last thing you need is any uncertainty in stadiums, so we need some sort of mechanism to let people know.’
There will also need to be an understanding that VAR will not be used to check every single disputed decision, only those that have a material effect on the outcome of a game, be it a goal, offside or
sending-off. ‘It doesn’t solve everything,’ says Maxwell. ‘If there is a corner that shouldn’t have been a corner, it’s not going to change that. Then someone scores from the corner and it’s: “Why did VAR not fix it?”.
‘So there is a real educational piece that we need to get through so everybody understands how we use it. It won’t fix every problem, but on the big decisions it takes officials from 94 per cent of decisions right to 99 per cent.
‘It should get the big decisions right but there will still be plenty for you guys to get your teeth into and plenty for supporters to argue about over a pint.’
As a former defender, Maxwell has had to get his head round the new parameters surrounding the offside rule.
Previously, the rules allowed for an interpretation that gave the ‘benefit of the doubt’ to the attacking player. Now, with technology in play and analysing body position to the millimetre, the issue is black and white.
‘I wouldn’t like to be a defender now,’ quips Maxwell, who served St Mirren and Partick Thistle among others. ‘I played deep enough at the best of times just in case anyone ran away from me! I would end up standing next to the goalie now.
‘It can be tight. Offside is a really interesting one because people will look at the lines and go, “Look at how close the lines are, he’s only a wee bit offside”. But you’re not only a wee bit off — you’re either offside or you’re not. It’s factual.’
England’s VAR hub is sited in West London at Stockley Park. While the SFA have been training their officials in a suite at the national stadium, the permanent hub will be placed on an industrial site off the corridor linking the country’s two biggest cities. Maxwell declines to say exactly where it will be.
‘We’ll have our own hub just off the M8,’ he says. ‘We felt that was the most efficient and effective solution. There was the option of a van outside the stadium, but we felt getting everybody back to a central hub was the best solution.
‘It will be interesting to see where it takes us in terms of decisions. The overall objective has to be to get more right than the 95 per cent we’re getting at the minute.’
‘WE HAVE A SIX-CAMERA SYSTEM THAT’S BEEN USED IN A LOT OF OTHER COUNTRIES. IT COMES DOWN TO RESOURCES’