For years, the governing bodies in the soccer world refused to implement video technologies in the game. A lot of players, specialists, and fans have been requesting a change because the game is getting faster all the time.
As a result, the referees are struggling to keep up, and there are many mistakes. In fact, it’s almost impossible to find an important soccer tournament from the past that lacked controversy.
In almost every Champions League, World Cup, or any other competition, there are always games decided by a mistake of the referees.
One could argue that the influence of the officials is way too big, and this has to change.
It was inevitable that the likes of UEFA and FIFA would react. In the past couple of years, we’ve seen video technology slowly introduced in many tournaments all across the globe.
However, the biggest breakthrough is the decision to introduce the video assistant referees, or simply VAR, to the 2018 World Cup. This has brought a lot of controversy, so let’s take a look at the influence of VAR so far.
Let’s start by explaining how the whole system works. For a start, there are a couple of referees in a room with a couple of monitors. They have access to all the angles provided by the cameras at the stadium. The guys there are called video assistant referees, hence the abbreviation VAR.
The referees on the pitch have a direct contact with them and have the right to request a video review in certain situations. Also, the VAR team has the right to recommend a review to be conducted.
Here are the situations when this could happen.
GoalsIf there are some doubts if a goal should stand, like probable fouls or offsides, VAR could be used
PenaltiesThe idea is to overrule wrongly-given penalties and for clear ones not to be missed
Red CardsSimilar to the penalties, the purpose is to not miss red-card incidents
Mistaken IdentityIf the main referee makes a mistake like showing a yellow card to the wrong player, VAR is used to correct that.
If you want to know a bit more about the rules, you could check FIFA’s explanation.
As I already mentioned, there were games when certain players and teams were unhappy with the way VAR works, but I will start with the positives from the system.
For a start, it gives the referees the chance to do the right thing in cases when they didn’t see something. For example, if they didn’t have direct contact with a certain situation, but they understood there was some kind of incident.
In the past, they were instructed not to give fouls and penalties they didn’t see. As they can’t possibly see everything, this lead to various issues.
We’ve seen multiple cases already where the referees sensed that something had happened and requested some assistance. The replays give the VAR team everything required to dig deep and make an informed decision.
I believe this does make the life of the referees easier and will certainly help in the future. In fact, this probably is one of the main reasons the current World Cup is easily on course of smashing all records for the most penalties in the history of the soccer competition.
I think one of the biggest bonuses that VAR brings is that the linesmen are no longer under such immense pressure when it comes to the offside situations.
The FIFA referees committee chairman and former top official Pierluigi Collina explained before the World Cup that each linesman is instructed to keep his flag down in tight situations and let the play continue.
In the meantime, the video assistants check if the player was indeed offside. The logic behind such an approach is simple. You can rule out a goal if there was an offside that wasn’t given. However, you can’t bring the situation back if the flag was up and there was no offside.
I like this approach, and we’ve already seen it in action during the World Cup. It’s certainly one of the areas where VAR is useful.
One of the main arguments against the introduction of video technologies was that they would interrupt the game too often. I think it was somewhat valid, but the current solution proves that it is possible to use help and still avoid that.
My overall feeling is that the VAR is not an issue, and the flow of the game stays intact.
Obviously, there are problems with the current VAR system, and they are obvious to see. Let’s take a look at them.
One of the major downsides is that the video technologies are basically only there to help the referees. While I can understand the logic behind that, it’s still an issue.
After all, one of the main points of introducing the technologies is to reduce the power of the officials. If the teams can’t request a VAR review, there’s a huge chance plenty of situations will be missed.
The best example since the start of the World Cup is the game between England and Tunisia. As Marcus Rashford rightfully said, there were at least two clear penalties against Harry Kane, and they were not given.
I believe the teams must have the chance to appeal and request a review of major incidents. Of course, this should be limited somehow.
For example, the experience in tennis could work. Give each team a couple of reviews per game, and that’s that.
Despite the official FIFA rules that give the VAR team the right to inform the referee a review should be conducted, the impression is that simply doesn’t happen. All the cases so far have been initiated by the main official.
This leaves room for error if he completely misses an incident. The two penalty appeals in the England game are a good example.
All the people watching the match saw the replay, and it was clear that Kane was tackled. How on Earth did the VAR team miss them?
Let’s hope this changes in the future, as it proves to be a problem in the current World Cup.
One of the interesting consequences of VAR is the introduction of some new betting markets by the bookies. For example, you could now place a bet on if VAR will be used in a certain match.
On top of that, some sportsbooks have the option for you to place a wager (on individual games) that a goal will be overruled after the use of VAR.
This one is particularly interesting, especially if you consider the offside instructions I already mentioned. We’ve only seen one such incident during the World Cup so far, but I expect that it will occur again.
Considering the high odds you could find, this might be an interesting opportunity to include in your pre-match wagers.
If we consider all the good and the bad sides of VAR, it seems like the new system is showing some promise. It does solve a couple of issues and has the potential to improve in the future.
Let’s hope the soccer authorities will use the experience from this World Cup to make the system even better.
It’s a real shame to see the number of referee mistakes that decide matches and even tournaments in the most popular game around the globe. If VAR proves to be the solution to that, it will be a VERY good thing for the sport.
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