IMG: FIFA
The concept of video assisted referees (VAR) has been debated for quite some time now and the recent controversies in England where the technology has been used in the FA Cup and where it has not been used, in the Premier League. The debate on whether to implement the technology into the Premier League seems like an endless one and recent matches in England have called for its use as for in others it has been criticised for introducing confusion to fans and players when a decision is being made, most notably in a recent FA Cup tie between Liverpool and WBA where VAR was in the spotlight and in the Premier League fixture Liverpool vs Spurs where the technology was also in the spotlight for...not being there.
In the 2013-14 season, Goal-line technology was introduced to the Premier League in order to avoid wrong decisions being taken about a goal being given in a doubt whether the ball crossed the line and in recent seasons it has been used with great success and many people praising the technology, however, people are split on the topic of video assisted refereeing where a fifth “digital” referee is added to the mix, where a team of Fifa approved refs review an incident in doubt and can either advise the match referee on the decision or even let him take a look, football fans have argued that this takes away the way games have been overseen for many years and see it as a threat to the beautiful game. Others feel that this is just one step towards perfecting the sport. IMG: NY RED BULLS
The recent FA cup tie Liverpool vs WBA was much talked about after VAR was a mainstate of the match, with a goal being ruled out and a penalty given by the technology and was criticised for causing confusion amongst the fans and even after the game, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp expressed his frustration of that in spite of the game being stopped for a long time, the added time was a mere three minutes, reducing the time of play and with Liverpool being behind the majority of the match you can understand the German’s frustration with the technology.
In contrast, the times where the technology has not been in use it has been called after. In the Premier League fixture between Spurs and Liverpool, a late penalty saw Harry Kane cancel out Salah’s stunner with fans fuming over Jon Moss’s decision of giving the penalty, saying Erik Lamela fell to easily in the area and called for even more loud voices wanting VAR implemented into the Premier League despite recent criticism from other fans. The technology will be used in the remainder of the FA cup and in the Carabao Cup final, but will stay away from the Premier League...at least for now. IMG: Getty
It is certainly very interesting to watch the debate on VAR and whether to implement it in the Premier League and whatever the result will be, fans will be split on it. However the technology is still only in its infant stage and will continue to evolve over the next few seasons and in a couple of years we might see it become as positive as goal-line technology was to the footballing world when it entered the scene, the technology is very complicated and will have to be given time to settle in with fans and hopefully will grow on the and not take as long as it did in the Liverpool vs WBA game.
Post by: Emil Árnason
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