Saturday’s Champions League Final has predictably attracted some commentary about the standards of refereeing. Personally, I thought the referee for the game was excellent – he got the big calls right, clamped down on time-wasting, and wanted to keep players on the pitch.
Regardless of the perceived rights and wrongs of individual decisions, though, the most notable thing about how the game was officiated was the lack of involvement by VAR.
The VAR officials didn’t see themselves as key attractions in the event – they weren’t trying to re-referee the match, and were there for the sole purpose of covering the referee’s back. If he missed something major, or gave an objectively incorrect decision, they were there.
It’s how VAR should be – for emergencies only – and it was a stark reminder of something that’s been a huge surprise to me this season: just how much of a mess the PGMOL have created with VAR in the Premier League.
Inconsistently applied and desperate to get involved, this bunch of back seat referees with seeming main character syndrome are just desperate to get involved in the game. In the Premier League, VAR is more akin to being in an autonomous vehicle than the ‘roadside assistance’ they should be providing.
Over the season’s closing stages we saw a disputed call ruled out a West Ham equaliser against Arsenal, massively impacting events in favour of both the Gunners and their North London rivals, while in Scotland a ridiculous handball decision pretty much decided the destination of the Scottish title.
Surveys from the Football Supporters Association and YouGov have provided varying results, but the overriding message from both is that the majority of supporters are against VAR in its current format.
The hulking shadow of VAR has made referees impotent. They’re scared to act, give a decision, in case they get it wrong – safe in the knowledge that the all-seeing-eye (which seemingly decides what it wants to see) will get them out of a pickle.
When VAR was brought in, it was sold as ‘minimal disruption, maximum impact’, which is how it should be.
Instead, almost a decade on, it’s maximum disruption, maximum impact. The way the PGMOL uses VAR in the Premier League has taken away the spontaneity of celebrating a goal. It’s made players, supporters and referees second guess everything. And it’s had a massively detrimental impact on the game.
Saturday’s game showed how it should be used. Only in case of absolute emergencies.
I’m not against the use of VAR in football. I know some people are, and I completely get that. Used correctly – i.e to correct a game-changing error made by a referee – it should be a key component in fairness.
The infamous Thierry Henry handball goal against Ireland, for example, would have been rightly ruled out. The Maradona hand of God goal against England in 86 too.
Clear and obvious infringements that determine games. I’m sure no one would object to those being called correctly and ruled out.
The trouble we all feared with VAR was this though: once you open that Pandora’s box, where do you stop? And that’s the situation the PGMOL have got themselves into.
They’re scrutinising incidents that don’t have a ‘clear and obvious’ refereeing mistake in them. They’re looking at some incidents to see if the ref’s missed something (Ballard stroking a striker’s hair, for example) and not others (Brobbey being lamped in the face).
They’re supposed to get involved in clear and obvious errors – so why do incidents take four or five minutes to get to the bottom of. If it’s clear and obvious, it should be evident in 10 seconds.
The baseline for getting involved should be a clear and obvious error from the referee that will determine the end outcome of the game – i.e a goal.
A factual matter that is not open to interpretation. A player being offside. Maradona punching the ball into the net.
But even then, there are degrees of offence – and the reality is that football is rarely a game of black and white. Giving offside because a shoulder is slightly out of line just doesn’t seem fair. The one instance it is categoric is the ball over the line – technology was introduced for that, and it works very well.
The PGMOL, led by the way by Howard Webb, who I always thought was an awful referee himself (same as his predecessors Mike Riley and David Ellery – they can pick them, can’t they?!), haven’t made it easy for themselves either. Some VARs like to get involved more than others. They’ve decided certain infringements (like stroking a braid) deserve a more severe punishment than a clattering foul, or diving to attempt to win a penalty.
It’s not just their use of VAR, either. Deciding a hair pull is worth the same punishment as a studs up, knee high challenge just shows a complete lack of understanding of the game. The actually standard of refereeing has declined significantly, creating officials who are unwilling to give anything but the basic calls because VAR will decide for them.
We saw in the Championship when referees came down from the Premier League the difference in approach, and it’s not doing referees as professionals any good, either.
So, what’s the solution? VAR isn’t going to get scrapped, but its use needs to be fundamentally changed.
Referees need to be given the power back on the field – not the role of a glorified babysitter who knows the kids’ parents are watching over them anyway.
Let referees referee the game. Let assistants make offside calls.
If VAR officials cannot be trusted to only intervene when the clear and obvious happens, give each team one video review per game. If it’s successful, they keep it. If not, they lose it.
Any other infringement spotted by video, put the player on notice that it’ll be reviewed afterwards, and a punishment may be meted out.
Is that perfect? Probably not. But it’ll be far better than the refereeing we have in the Premier League today, where the opinion of one person on the field is being challenged and overruled by the opinion of another.
Because that’s just not right for the players, supporters – or referees.
However, it looks like nothing will change. The PGMOL have patted themselves on the back and have said they’re happy with season-on-season VAR improvements, while the Premier League apparently has the lowest rate of VAR reviews across the top European leagues.
So there. Everything. Is. Fine.
Hold on, can someone review that for me?