The A-League should immediately suspend the video assistant referee (VAR) system because of continued bungles, Central Coast coach Mike Mulvey says.
Mulvey says the VAR is still causing confusion among coaches, players and fans.
“There’s a lot of confusion right now with what the VAR is actually there for,” Mulvey told reporters on Friday. “Maybe not in the referee’s eyes or the referee inspector’s eyes but it is with the public and the players and the the coaches, and I think that matters.
“And I think for the A-League to have a sustainable product for the future, they need to have a real good look at this right now.”
Mulvey said he could list numerous examples of the Mariners being “aggrieved” by the VAR system this season.
“This is not a whinge. This is just a bad look for the A-League itself,” he said.
Mulvey said the system had not improved since it failed to detect an offside in the lead-up to what became Melbourne Victory’s title-winning goal against Newcastle in last season’s grand final.
“In the grand final, in the biggest game of the whole season for the A-League, Newcastle were done because the VAR wasn’t ready to rule on that situation for the goal that was scored,” he said.
“And here we are a number of months later and we still haven’t got it right. We’re still arguing about it, we’re still discussing it. And it’s not a good look for the A-League.
“So I think potentially we need to suspend it for now and just let the referees referee the game and we get on from there.”
Mulvey spoke with Football Federation Australia’s director of referees Ben Wilson on Friday.
“He gave plausible description of what he thought what happened in certain circumstances,” he said.
“But there’s a lot of confusion out there.
“At the end of the day the fans are the key in this, they need to know what’s going on, they need an explanation as to what’s going on.”
Pork Chop
Roar Rookie
In my day ........ if a coach presented as an unshaven homeless man his comments would probably not get air time. His image and whinging reflects the teams position on the ladder.
Bill
Guest
Everyone should take a look at the Southampton v Derby FA Cup match. The VAR was used after Derby had scored. The officials review found the Derby forward had part of a leg "offside " which is the correct call going by the offside rule. Compare the WWS 1st goal against the Roar where, the forward was half a body offside, going by the screen at the ground, but yet no change to the decision to give the goal. At the ground there was no indication on the big screen the VAR was reviewing the possible offside. The referee made no indication there was a review happening. In fact, the referee was trying to restart the game. Yet, after the match the Roar coach says he was told there was a VAR review being done. So, was a review done or not. In the 2nd half when the VAR was definitely used the flashing lights came up on the screen and that was a clear offside against the Roar anyway. On the WWS 1st goal, Simon Hill, on Fox, said something I didn't understand. He said something like, "does the replay show the assistant has made a clear error of judgement". I think he was assuming the VAR was reviewing the offside. Is the review to prove the officials are wrong or right or as I thought , to make the correct decision if there is doubt about what actually happened on the field. I suggest the VAR be modfied to be similar to international field hockey. Simply, allow teams to call for a review if they feel they have a case. For football restrict it to 2 or 3 calls . If the review goes against the team they lose a call. If it goes there way they keep it. Also, broadcast the referee to VAR conversation so all the audience no whats being reviewed. I can tell you hockey makes football like amateurs when it comes to VAR. We can only imagine how the EPL crowds are going to react, when the VAR comes in next year, if they cop the same debacle.
Football lover
Guest
Or to avoid confusion renaimed to what it realy is the SAR (Sydney Assistant Referee)
Kangas
Roar Rookie
I don’t think the Ffa are able to comprehend the damage the var is causing .
Brian
Roar Rookie
Does anyone really think the FFA would act in the best interest of the sport and remove the VAR which has become a blight on the game. The players are partly to blame, it seems players consistently finish up on the ground looking for any possibility of getting a penalty every time the ball gets crossed in to the penalty area, particularly on corners. There are a number of problems but the VAR is is by far the biggest as it seems to be a problem on a weekly basis.