VAR and technology in football.

debeli

Football (soccer) is a strange mistress. It is excellent entertainment but it can get a little emotional at times - and not always in a good way.

VAR is the latest in a tranche of technological updates that are arriving at the higher levels of the sport.

But why? Perceived injustices are one of the enduring and endearing staples of fandom.

Cups and trophies can be won or lost by a judgement or decision by an official who may be under enormous pressure. It has always been so. That is sport. And for many fans it is a part of the drama and the fascination.

And... had there been VAR and goal-line technology in 1966, West Germany might have had even more World Cups... but that in itself is not the reason we should go back to the whistle and the human eye.

I am right.

kingstongraham

If it reduces the number of times boring people appear on Radio 5 Live complaining in a boring way about something that doesn't matter, then I'm in favour.

Alan Shearer's opinion today seems to be that if it can only reduce the number of disputed decisions by 90%, not 100%, then it is a complete waste of time.

If one of the main things that sustains interest in a sport is the officials making mistakes, then I'd argue that's not a compelling sport.

Matthewfalle

Every other sport has an equivalent. Some may say that it today's world of the sickening amount of money being paid to people/clubs that you need a definitive answer to possible issues.

bompington

I'm not a regular football fan, I have been a few times to watch the closest thing to top level football you'll get round here - Dundee United!
It never ceases to amaze me just how one-eyed the fans are. Any, and I mean ANY, decision against their team brings a torrent of abuse against the ref. I'm sure they can't all believe it but in the moment it really seems they do.

Will VAR change that? I don't think so.

pblakeney

The incident was reviewed using VAR and no penalty given. Shearer's opinion is worth less than the official's. Then again I think football should be a contact sport, not the Tom Daily diving namby pamby thing it is morphing into.

larkim

Think the point was that it wasn't reviewed by VAR wasn't it? That the video ref didn't say to the field ref "You might want to take a look at that again" and the field ref said "I'd like to check my decision please".

pblakeney

larkim wrote:

Think the point was that it wasn't reviewed by VAR wasn't it? That the video ref didn't say to the field ref "You might want to take a look at that again" and the field ref said "I'd like to check my decision please".

I wasn't watching the game. Going from what you say it sounds like the video ref saw nothing untoward, and the ref wanted to check his decision. Which he must have been happy with.
Is that how it went? in which case, it worked perfectly. Correct decision either way IMO. Isn't that the point?

larkim

No, don't think that's how it went. From reading the news reports, it was that ref didn't ask and the video ref didn't draw the ref's attention to anything. So the TV pundits seemed clear that when THEY viewed the replays it was a clear penalty, so they couldn't see how the video ref hadn't seen it the same as them.

And therein lies the problem of football (boring game) - no-one agrees what the rules actually are!

(From having watched it on BBC website, to me it looks like Willian deliberately fails to step over an outstretched leg. Whether that is "diving" or not, and whether the other player is to blame for his leg being there in the first place or not I don't know - as I say, football generally bores me, but I am interested in the VAR stuff!)

kingstongraham

The point is that in this specific instance, VAR didn't change the decision, but Shearer has decided that means that it is useless and should be abandoned because it will never help. Despite the fact it already has in other incidents. He's an idiot.

debeli

The Shearer rant was funny but was not the spark for the thread....

I prefer an element of doubt about certain decisions. I enjoy (usually) the partisan response on the terraces - or in today's seated stadia - to any blowing of the whistle or failure to blow the whistle. I quite like the theatrical indignation of card recipients. I have no idea why anyone would want that to and...

People argue that there is now so much money in the game that there is a lot riding on every decision. To me that makes no sense... How can a bigger purse make it more important to make the correct call? The unpredictability of the game is one of many reasons it fascinates....

As ever, I am right.

pblakeney

KingstonGraham wrote:

The point is that in this specific instance, VAR didn't change the decision, but Shearer has decided that means that it is useless and should be abandoned because it will never help. Despite the fact it already has in other incidents. He's an idiot.

Bottom line is that if VAR hadn't been at the game it would have proceeded exactly the same way as it did. To Blame VAR for VAR not being used and the referee not giving the decision you want seems a tad bizarre.
As can be seen from today, VAR may correct some obvious decisions but it will not kill off debate.