THE VAR CONUNDRUM
Tom Ball
Football’s biggest villain over the last two to three years has been VAR. Every weekend there seems to be a flood of football fans providing everyone with their very explicit views on the technology. The introduction of the video assistant referee has changed the landscape of the game completely. Many would tell you for the worse, but is that really true?
We must conceded that there is flaws that have arisen since its introduction. Recent incidents involving Mike Dean have made everyone ask the relevant question; wasn’t this meant to stop decisions like this?
Now, the answer to that is yes. However, we must also remember that no matter how much technology you cake the officiating with, the decision will always be made by the human eye. Except for goal-line technology of course. Mike Dean has still made the decision himself to send Tomáš Souček off in that game against Fulham. Whether it is the right decision or not. VAR had very clearly done its job in showing the official the incident in question.
Concession by the league was made and the red card was rescinded. This was still not enough for people. Many have called for punishment to underperforming referees as well as the obligation for officials to address the press after the game. The league doesn’t allow this at this moment in time. Football’s laws were always seen as black and white so you had always known why the decision was made whether you agreed or not. VAR has thrown this stigma out completely. We are now asking the referees more questions than before. Expectation breeds disappointment.
Whatever you personally think the solution is, the common denominator is the lack of transparency. Rugby has used referee mics for years. The NFL have their officials announce the decisions over the broadcast as well as in the stadium. Many major sports have some form of communication during the game between the audience and themselves. It is quite bewildering that this is yet to be put in place in our game.
Before VAR was a thing the solution to decisions like the ones made recently was to bring in the video technology we now hate. But as you can see these decisions are still a regular occurrence. VAR has not fixed the problem and that’s why we hate it.
The biggest naivety came when VAR was brought in without any form of evolution of the rule book. The issues with offside, the uncertainty of the handball rule as well as the soft nature of what constitutes a foul are all a byproduct of that naivety.
Arsene Wenger recently presented a proposal of a change to the offside rule which is his version of the ‘clear daylight’ concept. This is a step in the right direction as many fans believe attackers are being penalised for margins the naked eye cannot account for. Armpits, elbows and hands that you literally cannot score with are putting players in offside positions. This has lead to a nationwide eye-roll every time we say the officials break out those dreaded red and blue lines. It is these lines that make the decisions yet we don’t know how it came to that decision.
Now, for the most part the offside rule is objective. It is black and white. However, many other rules like what constitutes a clear goal scoring opportunity or even what constitutes intent in a foul are subjective. Therefore, despite the new luxury of looking at a replay. Referees still have to make the decisions themselves. Which is becoming an increasingly aggravating event.
We must also be well informed when it comes to other areas of the law. Linesmen have been asked to not put their flag up for offside until a play has developed so that their actions do not interfere with play. Rui Patricio’s scary collision with his teammate Conor Coady on Monday Night lead to many people on social media blaming that rule. Short memories seem to forget that Manchester City scored a slightly unjust goal against West Brom in January because the linesman put their flag up too early. As it turns out, it was not offside and the goal stood. To West Brom’s disgust who stopped playing due to the flag going up. An instance that demonstrated the reason the rule exists.
The reaction to what happened on Monday Night shows the lack of objectivity when it comes to the law. The lack of evolution in the rulebook has lead to VAR becoming football’s biggest villain. There is no doubt that we cannot get everything right straight away but the Premier League have dug themselves into this hole. There has been a very clear flaw with the application of the technology but a severe lack of a proactive fix.
Things cannot happen all at once. The handball rule has been changed going into next season. There has to be many discussions as well as democracy between the teams in the league as to whether changes are welcomed. If we were to just get rid of the technology we would be dozens of season-altering missed calls away from wanting a different version of it back again. We asked for this, but yet we should at least expect an adaptability to it. It was never going to be faultless.