V.A.R. (Soccer’s, Very Annoying Retrospect)

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Video assistant referee - Wikipedia

 

Any kind of Sporting competition requires parameters and boundaries.

Rules that give clear and directive instructions of how a game should be played.
In order to aid and assist those who officiate with a human eye, electronics were brought in to give definite calls to unclear decisions.
When it comes down to sports like Tennis – when the speed of a ball can easily beat the eye, or in Cricket when the flight in the air and/or spin when it hits the pitch can deviate from its original path, this is indeed an asset.
In Rugby or ‘American’ football, to clear up within a melee if a ball has been touched down legally, and/or movement of play - again this seems to work with few debates, however, in ‘Soccer’, it’s a whole different ball game.

The introduction of a chip within the ball to ‘beep’ if it has gone over the line has been advocated for quite a while with good reason =


Frank Lampard's DISALLOWED Goal: Germany v England World Cup South Africa 2010 Last Sixteen - YouTube
(Germany v England)

 

Although most harsh


It has consistently given the correct decisions – albeit not with 100% record
Controversial 'Hawkeye' 'VAR' No Goal | Sheffield United Vs Aston Villa | Premier League - YouTube
(Aston Villa v Sheffield Utd)

 

Whilst the technical aspect of angles, projected flights of direction and telescopic details of positions is indeed definitive in the mathematical view, for me what is more important is the spirit of the game.
Considering that the introduction was to identify ‘clear and obvious errors, when the view of an official is somewhat blocked, or to look at the intent of foul play, - one has to question if the back leg of a player running back on the wing can be interfering with play that is in the middle
(England v Cameroon, Check Time 1: 22)
England vs Cameroon FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019™ Match 39 - YouTube

And England did get a bit fortunate when a similar case was not given)

 

If the game is going to morph into a more precise and robotic state of ruling, then it begs the question are officials necessary?
Certainly, there are times when the ’man in black’ seems to use V.A.R. as an excuse for the difficult decisions and would rather leave the call- and the blame, on an unseen observer far away from the mad crowd (when Covid restrictions lift) and their ‘get out of jail’ option.

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Maybe it’s the way that the English F.A. employ it? – I’ve not seen it in other countries – bar the ‘big’ European and ‘World’ games – where it seems to work a bit better

 

VAR Changes:

VAR changes explained by Mike Riley and four new referees added for 2021/22 | Manchester United (manutd.com)

 

V.A.R. First weekend review:

The New 2020/21 football season kicked off this weekend and the V.A.R. verdict was : Positive
Following the largley successful usage of the process during the European Football Championship, some changes were made to the system.
Having watched a number of the games, it seemed to me that there were some distinct differences that saw a lot more flowing football/
Early days but, - it seems 'lessons learned' =

 

V.A.R. Second weekend review:

After a good start, the second weekend saw another largely successful usage of the restructured V.A.R. process.
Whilst there was a matter of debate at Villa park, the first RED card for Leicester that saw Perez sent off for an over the ball tackle on 40 minutes, seemed fully justified.

 

VAR under the spotlight again after three 'extraordinary' decisions:
(Robert Dineen For The Mail On Sunday)

VAR under the spotlight again after three 'extraordinary' decisions (msn.com)