Only a few short weeks ago I published a post, ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’, in which I commented on the up-coming VAR technology. Very few people had heard of it back in November, but now I would find it hard to believe that any football fan worthy of the name, is totally unaware of this new game-changing development.
That’s not to say that everyone understands what it’s all about yet.
The intention is to get more correct decisions in four aspects of the game, and I’m wondering whether the FA are tying to run before they can walk by adjudicating on all four aspects from day one. I would argue that by looking at just one aspect initially, ie the goal or not a goal decisions, it would allow us all to get used to the processes involved in the reviews, like the time involved with a review, how the referee communicates to his new assistant, and how the referee communicates to the crowd at the game. But the FA have decided to go all-in, and if VAR is in use at a game, it is to be used for all four aspects.
So, how does VAR feel when you are at the game?
I was in the crowd at the Leicester v Fleetwood FA cup replay on Tuesday evening, and so far as I could tell referee Moss used his new assistant 3 times in the second half.
In the first incident, a ball was pulled back from the goal line and was stroked into the net from the edge of the six-yard box. The linesman signalled that the ball had gone out of play. Instead of going straight to the goal-kick, the referee put his finger to his ear to get confirmation that the ball had indeed gone out of play. From where I was sitting it looked very close and I wouldn’t have been surprised if the decision had been reversed, but it wasn’t, and so the linesman had got it right. The check didn’t take very long, and the game continued with the goal-kick. Without VAR, some spectators would have given the linesman plenty of abuse, but there was very little reaction to the linesman because the crowd could sense that the correct decision would be, and quickly was, made.
In the second incident, a free-kick was played into the Fleetwood penalty area and two or three Leicester players appealed for a penalty. I couldn’t tell exactly what they were appealing for, but it seemed that someone may have been held or blocked when trying to attack the ball. The referee had not given a penalty and the ball had gone out of play, so he again put his finger to his ear and appeared to be asking whether he had missed something. Within a few seconds he had received the information he needed and pointed for the goal-kick. For a moment, we got a bit excited because we thought we might be getting a penalty, but we didn’t, and all was well.
And then we had the third incident. Mahrez played in Iheanacho, who scored, but the linesman had raised his flag for offside against Iheanacho. I happened to be right in line, and to be honest, I thought the linesman had probably got it right. The referee again signalled that a review was in process, and this time it was taking much longer than the other two. The longer we waited, the more we murmured in anticipation, and it seemed that because it was taking some time, it was going to be a close call. And then the decision came! The referee picked up the ball and pointed to the centre circle. The decision had been reversed, a goal had been awarded, and we had witnessed history, the first reversed decision in competitive English football due to VAR technology. And I was there!
For the rest of the match every close call by the officials was met with a chant of ‘V A R…..V A R’. Hilarious!
But wait…breaking news! As I am putting this together, Willian has been booked for diving in the Chelsea v Norwich replay. The BBC action replays have convinced the pundits in the studio that VAR should reverse the decision and award Chelsea a penalty. If it were my team, I think I would be expecting a penalty. The video referee appears to be saying that the referee has not made a clear and obvious error. Shearer is furious, and thinks that VAR should only be used for matters of fact and not matters of opinion.
We are not going to eliminate post-match arguments any time soon. Watch this space!