VAR sparks more controversy across Europe

Berlin (AFP) – Six months after successfully making it’s World Cup debut in Russia, the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system remains a ‘work in progress’ which keeps sparking controversy across Europe’s top leagues.

“The VAR is like an airbag: it can help in case of emergency, but only in case of a real emergency,” was how former Swiss referee Urs Meier regarded the system which still draws mixed views on how best to use it.

In Germany, where the VAR is into it’s second season, video assistants are being instructed not to improve decisions – only to eradicate bad ones.

“The video assistant should not ask himself, ‘did the referee make a good decision?’. On the contrary, the question should be ‘did he make a bad decision?” explained Jochen Drees, the VAR project leader for the German Football Association (DFB), in Berlin.

In short, all matters of interpretation must be at the sole discretion of the referee on the pitch and the video assistant can only point out what he saw.

So if the VAR reports an error, the referee must watch the replay and form his own opinion. No longer can a red card be shown or a goal disallowed based solely on the video assistant’s judgment. The complaint of ‘double refereeing’ should disappear.

“The referee must under no circumstances make a decision, if he has not looked at the incident himself,” insists Drees.

– Technical breakdowns –

Throughout Europe, the impact of the VAR has generally been positive. 

“The video assistant referee has helped divide by three the number of errors impacting matches” said Pascal Garibian, chief of France’s referees.

However, the system continues to polarise opinions and there have been several examples of the technology breaking down during matches.

At the weekend in the French league, Monaco coach Thierry Henry was furious when the VAR stopped working, as  his side were thumped 5-1 at home to Strasbourg, when he felt they should have been awarded a penalty.

“There was a foul on Rony Lopes in the box when it was 2-1,” fumed the 41-year-old.

“The fourth official told me: ‘I’m really sorry Mr Henry, but VAR isn’t working…”.

In Spain on Sunday, Luis Suarez scored for Barcelona in the 3-1 win over Leganes, who were convinced the star forward fouled their goalkeeper with a high foot, which the VAR missed.

“A blow to the VAR” was the headline in Tuesday’s edition of Madrid sports daily AS.

from World Soccer Talk http://bit.ly/2sItS96