Portuguese believes VAR is ‘ruining football’ ahead of its arrival in SPFL

CELTIC winger Jota has delivered a withering verdict on the pending introduction of VAR to Scottish football, insisting the technology is ‘ruining football’.

The video assistant referee initiative will be rolled out in the Premiership from December when the league resumes after a mid-season break to accommodate the World Cup.

However Jota, who has just completed a £6.5million permanent transfer to Celtic from Benfica, believes it will diminish the game.

He said: ‘I am against VAR. I don’t like it. I think it is ruining football and I am totally against it.

‘That’s my personal opinion — football is much more than that.

‘Nowadays we try to complicate what is simple but I guess it is not up to me to make those decisions.’

Welcomed by referees and coaches alike, the introduction of video technology is designed to increase the number of correct decisions in games.

A flair player like Jota might be expected to back a scheme that ostensibly should protect attackers from foul play but he believes officiating errors are crucial to the game’s appeal.

‘Football is about mistakes, it’s about errors,’ he continues. ‘Everyone will make mistakes, I will make mistakes, the referees will make mistakes and the coaches, too.

‘That’s the beauty of it. Because if there is a mistake, then someone is going to take an opportunity.’

The SFA, which has been training officials in the working of VAR, has vowed to educate the

Scottish football public on the finer points of the technology.

A two-man team of officials based at a remote hub will watch each top-flight fixture in real time and intervene where appropriate to flag up incidents for review.

In some cases, the referee will be invited to review an incident at a pitch side monitor, something which could lead to lengthy delays between a goal being scored and eventually awarded.

Jota, who enjoyed some big moments with the Celtic fans last season, regrets that some goal celebrations will now lose their spontaneity.

‘The delay is something I really don’t like,’ he adds. ‘But I guess this is what we have now.

‘I am evaluating it from every angle. As a fan, as a footballer, everything. I just don’t think it makes sense. That’s my opinion.’