I’m unsure whether Michael Jackson was a footballer. Probably not. He certainly would have been tough to handle in the midfield with that fancy footwork and could have mastered the art of simulation early in his career considering his gift for performance.
One of his most critically acclaimed and celebrated songs got me thinking about the upcoming A-League season and video assistant referee (VAR). There is a need for the league to reflect deeply on its failings and implement a clear and instructive process for the officials in order to avoid the catastrophic past.
“I’m starting with the man in the mirror. I’m asking him to change his ways.”
It is a sad fact that VAR marred the grand final in Newcastle some three months back and created embarrassment for many. The officials on and off the pitch, the FFA and those governing the A-League all took the brunt and a glorious sell-out crowd in a traditional regional venue took a back seat to technological failure.
However, the day was the culmination of fury and anger towards the system, a feeling that will continue to fester until change is made.
Weeks later the world gathered in Russia and fears lingered that the mechanism would be a key determiner, potentially to the detriment of the tournament. The best footballers in the world, after decades of honing their craft in academies, rubble-ridden vacant blocks and suburban streets the world over, feared their toil would seem less important than a human in a booth with too many gadgets at their disposal.
And then, pppfffttt! Nothing. VAR came to the party and was actually pretty good. Sure, there were moments, with the Portugal versus Iran match a case in point. However, the level of controversy was certainly no more prevalent than in the days prior to technological assistance – in fact it was arguably less so.
(Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)
The success lay in a streamlined system and the speed with which it was applied to the action occurring on the pitch. FIFA got it right. It was akin to that firm and confident referee we have all encountered. The official who makes a decision, looks the players straight in the eye and calls play on, the subtext being, “If you have an issue with it, I have a yellow card waiting”.
The flim-flamming, flip-flopping, timid and uncertain official is the enemy of any game and the source of the ugly protest and distrust that sometimes overwhelms players and fans alike.
On 5 May in Newcastle that is exactly what Australia’s version of VAR appeared to be despite the fact that it was less the process and more the hardware to blame. To the fans it makes little difference and highlights the need for a long look in the mirror and proactive approach towards refinement and improvement.
Entering another A-League season without a clear rethink and a firm action-plan based on measurable and reliable data would be a dereliction of duty from Greg O’Rourke and his team.
Thankfully we have Russia to provide that data.
The World Cup proved to everyone that VAR can work, even in the A-League, and with the appropriate tweaks the local system could be improved immediately.
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One of the potential flaws in the process is the decision-making by the assistant referees on borderline, offside decisions. The assistant effectively removes the technology from the equation once they wave their fluorescent flag.
In a situation where VAR could have been used to confirm or deny a goal it is rendered useless once that flag is raised. The referee correctly trusts the assistant, enforces the ruling and everybody looks a goose a few minutes later when a commentary teams deride VAR and those who overrode it with human error.
A directive to flag the obvious and otherwise allow play to continue allows the VAR to decipher a moment of inches more thoroughly than a puffing official in a highly pressured environment. An underlying mantra of ‘play on wherever possible’ needs adherence to.
While it feels a little strange for all of us to see play continue as an unidentifiable official reviews a decision seemingly from the ill-defined technological cloud, it will become the norm.
Watching it on a daily basis in Russia and understanding the processes in place certainly had something of a desensitising effect. By tournaments end most were content with its use.
In addition, when VAR is called upon in the A-League this season a timely look from each angle available should provide the answer. Watching freeze frame after freeze frame and ‘rocking and rolling’ footage, searching for something that may or may not be there, does neither the officials or fans any favours at all.
(Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
In Russia the decisions were made briskly, with an analysis conducted in the booth on the evidence at hand and the determination passed down speedily to the referee. At times the players were incensed, yet no more so than by a decision made solely by an on-field official.
The rapid continuation of play promoted an acceptance of the decision and protected referees from the excessive attention and pressure applied by circling players.
Removing scope for A-League referees to move to the sideline and review play at the foot of the grandstand would also improve the system immeasurably. If there was ever a situation designed to incite aggravation in fans and place ridiculous pressure on an official, this surely is the one.
If the VAR is a highly qualified and competent official capable and empowered to make independent calls, why should any decision be thrown back in the direction of the referee?
As in all sport, the adaptation and implementation of technology into the decision-making processes of officials has been problematic and fraught with inconsistencies. The FIFA World Cup in Russia showed that it can indeed work.
If the A-League suits hope to lessen the angst and distrust around VAR, the administrative powers would do well to consider these tweaks. Having a backup mechanism for technical malfunctions might be a handy plan as well.
No system is perfect, nor are humans, but if the A-League hope to build any sense of trust in the process after the fiasco of last season’s biggest day, they must be prepared to tinker.
Sean
Guest
Michael Jackson would have made a decent footballer! He was actually a black belt in not one, but several martial arts! Great article.
Cousin Claudio
Roar Guru
Wait a minute, you guys are blaming the VAR, like its making decisions instead of the referees. The HUMANS are making the decisions, not VAR. VAR does not award penalties, HUMANS do. Just like Hawkeye in the tennis and cricket. The VAR is a tool that is used by a panel of referees to clear up any doubt about an incident that was missed by the referee and linesmen in real time. The humans still make the decisions based on what they think is a fair call.
Cousin Claudio
Roar Guru
Stuart, the VAR didn't ruin the grand final mate, it was the linesman standing right alongside play, who didn't raise his flag, that was the problem. Human error, if you want to call it that, nothing to do with VAR. VAR wasn't even referred to because of a technical failure. In fact, if the VAR was working it woud have clearly shown an offside and the goal would have been disallowed. On the balance of things, VAR has been a big success and the football games have been fairer as a result. Just look at the WC Finals.
Buddy
Guest
Nem, I reckon you gave a good summary of how the VAR was used in the WC- except for the penalty decision in the final. Ref must have reviewed the footage 20-30 times..... a clear and obvious error not calling it in thefirst place?
Stuart Thomas
Expert
You are quite simply on fire today my friend.
Waz
Roar Rookie
ha ha Jeff Astle, there’s a memory ... mind you Glory fans can teach a few people a thing or two about “going on about it for years” (let it go guys, Berisha has left the country..)
Stuart Thomas
Expert
Well said mate. Agree about labouring the point when it comes to replays and the like. I have a good friend who complains about the FOX NRL coverage claiming they don't show enough replays. He feels Channel NINE do a much better job of showing the incident again. Personally, I prefer to have the sounds of the game coming through in surround sound and feel as though I am at the match live, without the aid of replays. FFA Cup nights are great for that, the suburban feel and the enormous amount of action that the broadcasters attempt to cover leads, in my opinion, to less reflection and analysis of controversy and more of a celebration of the goals being banged in from everywhere. I guess to each their own. Conveniently, tonight is one of the nights I love. Good luck to your boys tonight, I'll be on deck for Roar vs City which looks an interesting clash on paper.
Kangas
Roar Rookie
Springsteen The var takes away that Human touch .
Buddy
Guest
Waz, what I was trying to get across was that we were used to humans getting decisions wrong - at least that is how the public sees it. I agree that in the circumstances he probably would have raised it but in days before var if he didn’t then we spend years hand wringing....do you remember Ray Tinkler and the Jeff Astle goal for West Brom against Leeds? - the hand wringing went on for years! We can’t use VAR instead of making decisions. Let’s make decisions and use VAR if they are B.A.D.
Oldpsyco
Guest
The problem with VAR is it is used too often. It should only be used in black or white situations. Was the ball over the line, Yes or No. Was it Off Side, Yes or NO! Any decision that involves an opinion should remain with the Referee, otherwise we are just swapping one opinion for another. Which leads Officials to not making a decision and leaving it for VAR, lowering the overall standard of Refereeing in general.
Stuart Thomas
Expert
Love it. I'm not even a fan of Mr Jackson. More of a Springsteen man myself.
Nemesis
Roar Guru
There were 2 obvious differences I noticed when comparing the use of VAR at WC2018 and HAL2018/19. 1) It was obvious the refs were in charge. There were many instances when the video suggested to fans & commentator that a review might be necessary & the VAR either had a look and ignored, or had a look told the ref it might be worth reviewing, but the ref said "play on". That's the way it should be. In HAL, my impression often was the VAR was becoming a 2nd referee. That's not the VAR's job. The VAR is there to identify obvious errors only. 2) The video production team and commentators did not dwell on incidents. If there was a contentious incident, we'd get 1 or 2 slow motion replays if the game stopped. If the decision was not reviewed, we'd move on. By contrast, when a contentious incident happens in HAL and it is ignored (especially if it involves SydFC as the victim), Simon Hill/Andy Harper & FoxSports broadcasting team will replay the incident again and again at every stoppage. They'll keep taking about the incident well after the incident passes. It becomes a major focus for the game. We need to stop this. Replay the incident a maximum 2 times. Then move on. No more discussion It's over. VAR is simply a tool to give refs the benefit of seeing vision that fans can see but human eyes will miss standing at ground level with a dozen bodies in the way. I still think the VAR at the World Cup can be improved, or the VAR protocol must change. The VAR protocol clearly states it is there to correct "obvious errors". By the basic definition of the word "obvious", if a referee has to view the incident more than once on replay, the error is clearly not obvious.
reuster75
Guest
The problem with technology such as VAR is it always gets used in situations where it shouldn't (i.e. a line ball decision as opposed to an obvious howler) because we no longer seem willing to accept that mistakes are made. So we become obsessed that sport must be perfect and all decisions must be perfect so video replays get used more and more. Technology over ever helps on a consistent basis when no human is involved and the decisions it makes are black and white (e.g. goal line technology). Get rid of VAR, accept that mistakes will happen but that 99% of those mistakes will be related to marginal decisions and only the odd howler gets made.
Kangas
Roar Rookie
Stuart. Say say say , I don’t know how Michael Jackson could get a mention in a football discussion but I’m going to rock with you on this I remember the time before the var ....and some decisions were never just bad , black or white But the Ffa wanna be starting something ., after the grand final var glitch it was obvious that Melbourne Victory found a way to beat it and Muscat left town like a smooth criminal, What could jets fans do but blame it on the boogie man . So now var is with us for good ... we are the World game .
Waz
Roar Rookie
“In Newcastle back in May, had there been no VAR, would we have spent months berating the assistant for not raising his flag?” ... err no, without the VAR the assistant would likely have raised his flag for a clear offside but with VAR thought he’d follow instructions and let VAR sort it out after the event so it’s not a good example. And this comes back to the point the supporters of VAR were making - VAR was meant to eliminate controversy not introduce a different set of controversies (there were plenty others last year apart from the GF stuff up). If it can not eliminate controversial debate altogether then it’s use needs to be minimised or eliminated all together.
Buddy
Guest
I recall when tennis first gained the use of video technology there were many issues just with in/out calls before it gradually settled down and these days it is just an accepted part of the game. Cricket struggled and perhaps still does at times, not helped by rule changes relating to the use of the 4th umpire. Now it is the turn of the football codes and if the other sports are a true marker, then there will be refinements and improvements until itstops being a talking point. In Newcastle back in May, had there been no VAR, would we have spent months berating the assistant for not raising his flag? I was sitting on half way and looking over the shoulder of the kick taker and even from there I questioned as to whether it was offside. Inside the groundthere was no explanation offered, the goal stood and the teams got on with it. I have no doubt far more was made of it on television and the viewers would have had a much different experience over the subject than those at the game. In the WC, I didn’t agree and still don’t agree with the French penalty decision in tbe final as it was not a clear and obvious error. The very fact that it had to be reviewed so many times tells us it was not clear or an obvious error. However, we move on and hope that season 2 of VAR is an improvement and that it just becomes embedded into the game and fairly seamless before too long.
Waz
Roar Rookie
I’ve been anti-VAR from the get-go and, like many, waited patiently for VAR to ruin the World Cup. But, it didn’t. So you are correct Stuart, change starts with the man in the mirror and I hope the FFA haven’t been distracted (again) this winter and have looked at this and made changes - and the centralised bunker is not the change that is needed although it may help. Russia though had better referees and better players. That’s something we can’t do anything about nor the fact that Australia rushed the system in (in an effort for Gallop to claim a “worlds first” on his watch) while the WC benefitted from our pain. The biggest single question for me though is the impact McDonalds sponsorship of VAR has. In other codes sponsorship of VAR is extremely high profile and, from a marketing standpoint, lucrative for all concerned. Unlike the World Cup, VAR in HAL football became invasive and it wasn’t unusual to see the big “M” indicating a VAR review on the big screens at Suncorp Stadium 5 or 6 times in a game (and similarly in the top left of our tv screens). But as everything is reviewed all the time, it’s really not necessary to do this ... the inescapable conclusion is Gallop and Co treat it like NRL and Cricket do - as a revenue generator; however unlike those codes there are few natural breaks in soccer where it can be used so it became intrusive, and therefore controversial, in the HAL. If we can achieve the same success as the WC then I could live with the infernal thing, and now we’ve seen how it can be done we have no excuses - anything less next season and Australian heads must roll.