Waking up at 4am to see the blood moon brought back memories of the World Cup.
Generally the scene played out like this: my wife would ask if I was going to get up, I would pull back the blankets, note how dark and cold it was and tell her, “It’s OK. I’m recording it.”
I don’t know what it is about these big sporting and astronomical events, but in Australia we always get a raw deal with time zones.
This time it was my wife’s turn to comment on the cold. “Don’t worry, we’ll record it,” I said.
Using technology to catch up with the football, and the blood moon (which bears more than a passing resemblance to the new A-League ball), got me thinking about VAR and how good it was in Russia and how bad it was in Australia.
After last year’s A-League season I was a complete VAR opponent. It was messing with the game, messing with our heads.
Unlike many countries, Australia has an entrenched video officiating culture. Who hasn’t had arguments about whether Clarkie’s bat was behind the crease or whether a rugby league player has grounded the ball.
Referee Nestor Pinata holds his hand to his ear (Photo by Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)
So Australians had high expectations of VAR. Years of images of fried chicken accompanied by a ‘YES’ or ‘NO’ has made us a tough crowd. We could tell that the A-League experiment was tanking.
The great test was at the A-League grand final. The goal looked offside and most of us were expecting it to be overturned. But somehow, the VAR flopped and failed the test.
In contrast, the implementation of VAR at the 2018 World Cup was an eye opener.
VAR adjudicators were confident and operated within the guidelines they were given. They made their minds up quickly.
The key was that VAR officials would only flag decisions that were clearly in error. In other words they let all the 50/50s go.
In Australia, I feel that many controversial decisions were made just to remind people that there was a VAR.
Some of the VAR directed red card calls in the A-League should never have been made.
What else did the World Cup VAR get right? The decisions for starters. Was there one truly bad VAR call in the whole World Cup?
Was the French penalty against Australia justified? When given a clear view, the referee decided to rule on what he regarded as the interpretation of the law. The argument was about interpretation, not the method.
Perhaps the most talked about decision was the penalty in the World Cup final itself.
There was enough doubt about the original call for the VAR team to refer it. This in itself flagged the referee that he might have got it wrong.
You could almost see the referee trying to justify not awarding it, the last long peer at the screen was probably more in desperation than anything.
Unless you are a Croatian supporter, it was hard to argue against the penalty, There would have been a far bigger reaction if the penalty was not given.
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More importantly, the overrule of the Neymar penalty and the non-overrule of the Harry Kane penalty against Panama, provided some value-add for VAR.
After these events, players rarely took a dive in the penalty area and some of the wrestling matches at set-pieces settled down.
So how do we make the VAR experience in Australia more appetising to our hard-bitten fans?
A centralised bunker system is one. This is something the FFA has decided to introduce so that’s a good move.
The VAR should not be over used. Like in Russia, use it only for the penalty box and offsides. Anything more sucks the momentum out of the game.
And have a back up plan. There’s a reason there’s so many IT jobs on Seek; technology stuffs up when you least expect it.
Here’s hoping that the Australian VAR system can finally bring some positives to the game, and that mistakes are rarer than a blue moon, or dare I say, a blood moon.
MarkfromCroydon
Roar Pro
The VAR now gives a perfect 'cover' for corruption. Yes, the on field ref and VAR can work together to influence the outcome. The on field referees can now wave 'play on' and then simply argue that they didn't see an incident clearly, or in their view it looked like it wasn't worthy of a penalty and not be chastised or suspected of corruption because the VAR is there. Of course, we have seen the VAR can choose to NOT review the incident, or if they do review the incident, choose to not award a penalty. A classic example was Arzani against Newcastle last season where he was clearly clipped and the VAR didn't give it a penalty.
Nemesis
Guest
I don't follow. Why is it easier to match fix with VAR? The field ref controls the game. Whatever he could do without VAR, he can do with VAR. If anything, VAR means match fixing would require both the ref & VAR to be in on the fiddle, since the VAR can refer things to the ref & the ref would then have to explain to his boss why he ignored the VAR.
MarkfromCroydon
Roar Pro
Yes, the VAR at the World Cup was used brilliantly in line with FIFA's desires to corruptly engineer the outcome of matches. We now have a super tool that can be used to match fix right out there in the public domain, hidden in plain sight. Corruption was once a difficult thing, but now VAR makes corruption so much easier. If you don't understand how the VAR now makes corruption easier, please take look at the next match it is available in, and then notice when the VAR is used and when it is NOT used. It's not rocket science.
Nemesis
Guest
Typically, negative snipe at Aleague. Yes, there were issues with the TRIAL phase of VAR in ALeague. Just as there were issues in Bundesliga, SerieA, FA Cup. The World Cup features the best players from best 31 nations in each Confederation. It also features the best referees. So, yeah. The refs at the World Cup handled VAR better than Aleague refs. And, the World Cup players are technically, tactically, physically & mentally at a higher level than Aleague players. So what? Don't like Aleague? Fine. Go watch something else. I'm fed up with constant moaning about orher leagues being better. Yes. Other leagues are higher standard. I don't care. I watch football for a sporting contest featuring teams that have connection to me, regardless of the standard. Teams representing suburbs, villiages & cities on the other side of the planet have no connection to me.
At work
Roar Rookie
The problem is the interpretation of a clear and obvious error, if the ref is rewatching the footage several times in normal and slow motion then it’s not clear or obvious. I don’t mind technology interference, but only where it’s straight forward and doesn’t interrupt the flow of the game. Offsides and balls over the goal line are straight foreard, while reviewing an already made penalty call to check if there has been simulation, as the game has already ceased. Otherwise let the ref and linesman do their job. Oh and if the linesman are instructed this season to keep their flags down for offsides and let VAR handle it someone should be severely reprimanded.
Buddy
Guest
So sorry about the duplication. The site did not appear to be working properly. The wheels were just spinning - I don’t feel so strong that I need to post three times honest!
Fadida
Guest
Pretty much every handball decision made by VAR was contentious. There were numerous times when there wasn't a "clear and obvious error"but decisions were overruled all the same.
Buddy
Guest
After the WC, I was left wondering whether or not it was the quality of the officials that used VAR that made the difference in the competition? Previously I would have happily helped pack up the equipment and delivered it to the local tip after lst season’s A League debacle with the technology but the Russian experience brought a new hope. My one concern is that it is supposed to help eli inate clear and obvious errors. That being the case, someone should legislate as to the number of replays toviewbefore making a decision. IMO if a sequence of play needs to be looked at 10 times or more, it isn’t a clear and obvious error, so get on with the game. Just a thought!
Buddy
Guest
Afer the WC, I was left wondering whether or not it was the quality of the officials that used VAR that made the difference in the competition? Previously I would have happily helped pack up the equipment and delivered it to the local tip after lst season’s A League debacle with the technology but the Russian experience brought a new hope. My one concern is that it is supposed to help eli inate clear and obvious errors. That being the case, someone should legislate as to the number of replays toviewbefore making a decision. IMO if a sequence of play needs to be looked at 10 times or more, it isn’t a clear and obvious error, so get on with the game. Just a thought!
Buddy
Guest
Afeter the WC, I was left wondering whether or not it was the quality of the officials that used VAR that made the difference in the competition? Previously I would havehappily helped pack up the equipment and delivered it to the local tip after lst season’s A League debacle with the technology but the Russian experience brought a new hope. My one concern is that it is supposed to help eli inate clear and obvious errors. That being the case, someone should legislate as to the number of replays toviewbefore making a decision. IMO if a sequence of play needs to be looked at 10 times or more, it isn’t a clear and obvious error, so get on with the game. Just a thought!