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Tag VAR

  • Feb, Sat, 2020
Sport

Burnley beat Bournemouth 3-0 amidst VAR farce

Farce
Burnley (UK), Feb. 22, 2020 (Reuters/NAN) Burnley moved up to eighth in the English Premier League (EPL) on Saturday with a 3-0 win over struggling Bournemouth.

It was all thanks to goals from Matej Vydra, Jay Rodriguez with a penalty kick and Dwight McNeil, in a game which saw a dramatic three-goal swing due to VAR.

There was early use of the review when Bournemouth had a Josh King effort in the 22th minute chalked off.

This was after VAR ruled that the ball had struck Philip Billing’s arm in the approach.

Burnley grabbed the lead in the 53rd minute with Czech striker Vydra claiming his second goal in as many games with a cool finish after being slipped through by McNeil.

But the game was to turn farcical on a remarkable minute of VAR reviewed action on the hour mark.

Burnley appealed in vain for a penalty kick, arguing that Adam Smith had handled a McNeil cross —- the resulting counter-attack ended with Callum Wilson feeding Harry Wilson who clipped past Nick Pope.

But VAR ruled that Smith had indeed handled — cancelling out the Bournemouth goal and awarding Burnley a penalty kick.

Rodriguez converted to make it 2-0 after 61 minutes, when moments earlier the score had stood at 1-1.

It was a moment that Bournemouth manager Eddie Howe said his team could not recover from.

“It’s so difficult for the players today. A three-goal swing against us and during the game it was too much.

“Once the second one happens we fell apart a bit mentally. Up until that point we’d been the better team. We didn’t recover from that moment,” said Howe.

Howe felt that both VAR handball decisions — which saw the ball strike the shoulder/upper arm area of the Bournemouth players — were wrong.

“I don’t know when the shoulder became the arm,” said Howe.

Vydra and Rodriguez went close to adding a third goal for Burnley.

McNeil, who hit the post with a beautiful curling effort moments later, rounded off the win with a superb solo goal in the 87th minute.

Burnley were nervously looking down at the relegation zone at the start of January.

But now they have picked up 13 points from the last 15 available and a push for a Europa League spot is not out of the question.

Vydra, who spent most of this season on the bench before a wonder goal as a substitute last week at Southampton, earned praise from Burnley boss Sean Dyche.

“He’s had to sit and wait for his chance. The best thing for me is he is working for his chance.

“He’s stretched the pitch. It’s been effective. Their centre-halfs would have thought about his pace and strength and his finish was sublime. He’s waited and waited and delivered. So, fair play,” he said.(Reuters/NAN)
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(Edited by Joseph Edeh and Olawale Alabi)

  • Feb, Wed, 2020
Sport

FIFA’s Wenger wants offside law changed to reduce VAR criticism

VAR 
Zurich, Feb. 19, 2020 (Reuters/NAN) FIFA’s head of global development Arsene Wenger says he will attempt to make a major change to the offside law.

He disclosed that it would be a change which could end a run of contentious decisions in the game since the introduction of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR).

Wenger wants a player to be deemed onside if any part of their body which can legitimately score a goal is level or behind the last defender.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Frenchman was manager of English Premier League club Arsenal for 22 years.

This will flip the current rule which states the player is in an offside position if any part of their body they can score with is beyond the line of the last defender.

Usage of video review has been a source of constant criticism since its recent introduction, including concern about the time to take decisions and the precision with which offsides are judged.

The system sparked another controversy last week in the Premier League when Wolverhampton Wanderers had a goal ruled out against Leicester City.

That was after Pedro Neto’s heel was adjudged to be fractionally offside in the build-up.

Wenger will recommend the change during the world football lawmaking body IFAB’s annual general meeting in Belfast on Feb. 29.

“You will be not offside if any part of the body that can score a goal is in line with the last defender, even if other parts of the attacker’s body are in front,” Wenger told the British media.

“That will sort it out and you will no longer have decisions about millimetres and a fraction of the attacker being in front of the defensive line.”

Each of the four Home Nations —- England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland —- has one of the eight votes, with FIFA holding the other four.

NAN reports that any law change needs six votes in favour to go through.

If Wenger gets his three-quarter majority, the new law could come into effect on June 1 —- 12 days before the start of the European Championship.(Reuters/NAN)
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(Edited by Joseph Edeh and Olawale Alabi)

  • Feb, Tue, 2020
Sport

UEFA cuts 15 seconds off VAR reviews in Champions League games

Reviews
Zurich, Feb. 18, 2020 (Reuters/NAN) UEFA says it has shaved 15 seconds off the average time it takes for the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system to correct a decision in its Champions League this season.

It said the average is now down to one minute 30 seconds.

The head of UEFA’s referees’ committee, Roberto Rosetti, said he was very happy with the way the technology had been used in the competition.

But he stressed that it was only for “clear and obvious” mistakes.

UEFA said that in 108 playoff round and group stage matches so far, 27 decisions had been corrected by the VAR system, an average of one every four games.

“This shows the quality of the referees’ performances,” said Rosetti.

“In addition, we feel that the time taken to overturn a decision is important. So far this season, the average time for the correction of a decision has been one minute 30 seconds —- 15 seconds less than last season.”

The use of VAR in some domestic leagues, particularly England’s Premier League, has been widely criticised.

This has come with suggestions that the video officials in some countries now have more power than those on the pitch.

Many critics feel that it has gone beyond its original remit with goals being disallowed for the tiniest of infringements such as a player being offside by an armpit.

“I will emphasise once more that —- in compliance with its protocol —- VAR is only for clear and obvious mistakes, and not for controversial situations,” said Rosetti, emphasising that the official on the pitch should have the final call.

“Football needs good referees above all —- match officials with a strong personality on the field of play, who take correct and courageous decisions.”

UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin has been among the critics over the way VAR has been used in some leagues, saying it was changing the character of the sport.

The European football body confirmed that VAR would be used in the knockout stages of the Europa League for the first time this season.

UEFA added that it would also be used for the Euro 2020 playoff matches in March, as well as the final tournament itself.(Reuters/NAN)
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(Edited by Olawale Alabi)

  • Feb, Fri, 2020
Sport

Italy’s FA asks FIFA for “challenges’’ to VAR in Serie A

VAR
Rome, Feb. 14, 2020 (Reuters/NAN) Italy’s football governing (FIGC) has asked FIFA’s rule-making body, the International Football Association Board (IFAB), if it can make some changes to the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system.

FIGC wants to introduce a system where Serie A teams can challenge referee’s decisions and ask for technology to intervene.

The Italian top-flight introduced the VAR system in 2017/2018.

But it has received criticism from Serie A managers who feel technology should take a second look at controversial decisions made by on-field referees.

Napoli and Parma fumed over VAR last weekend for wrong calls made by the referee after they were not awarded penalty kicks.

The FIGC believes managers should be allowed to challenge decisions, much like tennis players do with close line calls.

The FIGC said it received requests from a number of Serie A clubs and they informally took up the matter with FIFA.

It said it told FIFA they were ready to experiment with the use of challenges within a timeframe and process specified by IFAB.

IFAB will hold its Annual General Meeting in Belfast on Feb. 29 where subjects such as possible future developments on VAR use and concussion protocols will be discussed.

FIGC president Gabriele Gravina has also advised Serie A’s head of referees Nicola Rizzoli on this matter.

Rizzoli is to instruct referees to make more use of on-field reviews for controversial calls as the title race heats up in Italy.

Inter Milan and Juventus are tied at the top of the standings on 54 points while Lazio are third, one point behind.(Reuters/NAN)
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(Edited by Olawale Alabi)

 

Sport

UEFA Champions League: FC Porto go through with extra time VAR penalty kick

VAR
Porto (Portugal), March 7, 2019 (Reuters/NAN) FC Porto converted a penalty kick awarded following a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) review three minutes from the end of extra time to beat AS Roma 3-1 on Wednesday.

The win gave them a 4-3 aggregate victory to advance into the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals, after having lost 1-2 in the first leg.

Fernando went down as he tried to meet Maxi Pereira’s low shot across the face of the goal and, after studying the pitchside monitor, the referee judged in his favour.

He adjudged that his shirt had been tugged by Alessandro Florenzi.

Alex Telles emphatically converted the penalty kick to give Porto a win and heap further pressure on Roma coach Eusebio Di Francesco.

Italian media had said before the match that he was fighting to keep his job.

Tiquinho Soares put Porto ahead in the 26th minute before Daniele De Rossi levelled with a penalty kick before half-time.

Moussa Marega put the Portuguese champions back in front in the 52nd minute, and both sides failed to find the range again thereafter until the extra time decision.(Reuters/NAN)
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(Edited by Olawale Alabi)

Sport

VAR is a lifeline for beleaguered referees, FIFA official says

VAR
Florence (Italy), April 20, 2018 (Reuters/NAN) Massimo Busacca still remembers the sleepless nights.

FIFA’s director of refereeing was himself a match official for 15 years and knows how much of the suffering and soul-searching that referees go through after a bad performance.

“To understand what a referee’s life is like, just try doing it once,” the Swiss told Reuters in an interview.

“Try it, just to see what it means to make a big mistake and be killed by the media the next day.

“I know how many hours I was looking up at the ceiling and I couldn’t sleep because of my mistake… and I know that only one decision can change your life.”

Busacca said that “a player can be very bad for 89 minutes and he scores a goal and suddenly he becomes a hero.

“A referee can be the best in the world for 89 minutes, but when he makes one mistake he is killed.”

For Busacca the video technology system (VAR), which will be used at this year’s World Cup in Russia to help referees, is a much-needed safety net that could end their purgatory.

“Please let us have VAR for these moments,” he told Reuters on the sidelines of a training camp for the European and African referees who will officiate in Russia.

“Our careers and our lives have to change, they have to be fairer.”

Busacca remembered refereeing one “important” UEFA Champions League match where there was a sending-off offence but he was not sure which player had committed the foul.

His career included two FIFA World Cups and a UEFA Champions League final.

He did not have VAR to turn to, so he did what he thought was the next best thing by asking the players involved.

“I said, `please tell me who committed the foul, because otherwise it could be my last game’,” he said. “The players were very fair… one owned up and I gave the red card.”

Busacca said that, without VAR, players would quickly find out what television replays had shown while the referee remained in the dark.

“The players receive information from outside the pitch. Team staff are watching the match on an iPad, or the coach gets an SMS,” he said.

“So, the players tell you that you made a mistake, and how do you continue the game after that? What happens if there is another incident in the other penalty area?

“Do you compensate for the mistake?”

In the VAR system, a trained referee with access to a video monitor, and in constant communication with the main match official, checks decisions considered “match-changing”.

If an obvious mistake is spotted, the incident can be reviewed and changed.

The referee, who has access to a pitch-side monitor, can also initiate a review himself.

The system has been trialed in several leagues around the world this season, including Serie A, the Bundesliga and the Major League Soccer (MLS).

It was approved by football’s law-making body, the International Football Association Board (IFAB) in March.

But not everyone is happy.

One of the most frequent complaints is too many incidents are being reviewed.

Busacca, however, said the last thing a referee wanted to do was consult the VAR.

“Like anyone else, referees don’t like to be told they have made a mistake. So, the referee doesn’t like having an on-field review. He doesn’t want to go the pitch-side monitor,” he said.

And he warned that a referee’s mistake would still be noted by FIFA even if the VAR helped make the right decision.

“Just because VAR has corrected you, it doesn’t mean that you will easily be allocated another game,” he said, adding that one review per match — not including offsides — was too many.

“That would mean we are not working well with referees anymore,” he said.

An impassioned Busacca said he could not understand some of the criticism of VAR.

“Why do I always see that phrase ‘controversial VAR’?” he said. “Because a player is celebrating and it is discovered that he is offside?

“Of course, we have to be better, we have to reduce the time it takes. But, in the end, we need to get the decisions right.”

European football’s governing body UEFA has decided against using VAR in its Champions League next season, saying the system needs fine-tuning, but Busacca said it was ready for the World Cup.

“We have worked an incredible number of hours on the pitch in the last two years in seminars and tournaments,” he said.

“I close my eyes and think of the World Cup final in Moscow on July 15 and imagine that the game ends 1-0 with a goal which is 20 centimetres offside, and that I wouldn’t be able to sleep.

“And I can’t accept that.”(Reuters/NAN)
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(Edited by Olawale Alabi)

 

Sport

UEFA president ‘worried’ over use of VAR at World Cup

VAR

 

Milan (Italy), April 18, 2018 (Reuters/NAN) UEFA President, Aleksander Ceferin has expressed concern over the decision to employ the video replay system (VAR) at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

He also said the technology still needed more testing before it can be considered for use in the Champions League.

World football governing body, FIFA voted in March to deploy VAR at the June-July tournament in Russia.

It was only two weeks after its use was approved by IFAB, the organisation responsible for rule changes in the sport.

“I have some fear for the World Cup, where we will have referees who have never officiated with the VAR,” Ceferin told Italian paper Gazzetta dello Sport in an interview.

“I hope there are no scandals or problems,”

Ceferin has already said that VAR would not be used in the Champions League next season.

“The Champions League is like a Ferrari or a Porsche: you cannot drive it right away, you need training, offline testing. And everyone has to understand how it works,” he said.

“It’s too early for VAR. That doesn’t mean we will never have it as the process is inevitable… We’ll have it one day in the Champions League but there’s no rush.”

VAR is already being used in Serie A, the Bundesliga and Portugal’s Primeira Liga this season, among others.

IFAB insists it has reduced refereeing mistakes but critics say there has been confusion in a number of matches.

Goals have been annulled several minutes after being scored — with the teams waiting to restart — and penalties revoked with the ball on the spot.

Another criticism is that the spectators are not kept informed of what is happening when a decision is reviewed.

Ceferin said that VAR would not have made any difference in last week’s Champions League quarter-final between Real Madrid and Juventus, where a soft stoppage-time penalty led to the Spanish side advancing 4-3 on aggregate.

“What would have changed with VAR? Nothing. There are those who have watched it 20 times, I’ve watched it 50, but for half the people it’s a penalty and for the other half, it isn’t.” (Reuters/NAN)

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Edited by Muhyideen Jimoh/Maharazu Ahmed

 

 

Sport

Arsenal boss Wenger criticises Premier League’s VAR delay

VAR

London, April 16, 2018 (Reuters/NAN) Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has said the Premier League’s decision to delay the implementation of the video assistant referee (VAR) system means the English top flight is being left behind.

The 20 top-flight teams voted against introducing the system for the league’s 2018-19 season after trial runs in the cup competitions received mixed reviews.

“The Premier League has been created with people who had a progressive mind…,” Wenger told reporters after Arsenal’s 2-1 league defeat by Newcastle United on Sunday.

“Overall, I believe that with that decision we are behind the rest of the world.

“The young generation is used to (VAR) and worldwide they might move away from us because they see that in other countries they do it.

“Unfortunately the Premier League has again decided not to go for VAR and personally I believe that is a very, very bad decision,” Wenger added.

“Every big game this season has been decided by mistakes that could have been avoided with VAR, especially in the Champions League with Manchester City and Liverpool.”

Arsenal host West Ham United on Sunday. (Reuters/NAN)

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Edited by Omolade Michael/Maharazu Ahmed

Sport

Brazilian football clubs reject video referees

NAN-S-17
Rejection
Rio de Janeiro, Feb. 6, 2018 (Reuters/NAN) Brazil’s first division clubs have voted against the adoption of Video Assistant Referee (VAR), five months after the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) promised to introduce the review system.

The CBF did not explain why the clubs voted against VAR but media reports said it was due to the cost of acquiring the device.

According to globoesporte.globo.com, installing VAR would cost each club around 1 million Reais (about £219,440).

The CBF has, therefore, decided to bear the cost of installing the system for use in some Brazilian Cup matches.

“The use of video referees was addressed and the clubs decided it will not be implemented in the 2018 Brasileirao (the first division championship),” the body said in a statement.

The CBF had promised to introduce the system last September after Corinthians beat Vasco da Gama 1-0, with a player bundling the ball into the goal post with his arm.

At Monday’s meeting in Rio, the clubs also voted to allow synthetic pitches to be used in matches and permitted each team to play up to five home games in states other than their own.

Brazilian teams often play home games in distant cities, where they can make more money from gate fees.

However, the CBF stipulated that the option would not be permitted in the last five games of the season.(Reuters/NAN)
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(Edited by Salif Atojoko and Olawale Alabi)

 

Sport

Final decision on video replays likely on March 3, IFAB says

NAN-S-20
Decision
Abuja, Jan. 22, 2018 (Reuters/NAN) Football’s law-making body, the International Football Association Board (IFAB), on Monday said a final decision would be made in March on the use of the video replay system (VAR).

VAR is designed to help referees make key decisions during matches.

VARs have been on trial in various competitions around the world, including Serie A, the Bundesliga and the Confederations Cup, since last year with mixed results.

An IFAB spokesman said a full meeting of IFAB in Zurich on March 3 would give the verdict.

He said it would then pave the way for global football body FIFA to use them at the World Cup in Russia if approved.

FIFA president Gianni Infantino has said on various occasions that he wants to use VARs at football’s flagship tournament.

However, trials involving VARs have not gone entirely smoothly and there are doubts about whether the problems can be ironed out for a major tournament such as the World Cup.

The fact is that many teams, officials and fans will not be familiar with the system at the World Cup finals.

Lazio coach Simone Inzaghi said after a Serie A match last month that VARs had taken the excitement out of the game.

“Players don’t hug each other after scoring a goal any more, instead they look straight towards the referee,” he said.

“For me, it’s removing the adrenaline and my enjoyment of football.”

During last year’s Confederations Cup, referee Wilmer Roldan needed two reviews of an incident to send off the correct Cameroon player amid chaotic scenes in a match against Germany.

IFAB said on Monday that it was encouraged by a study by Belgium’s Catholic University of Leuven into the VAR trials.

According to the study, VAR has been used in 804 competitive games with an average of just under five checks by the video official per match.

“The vast majority were background checks which did not interfere with the game,” said the study.

The study said that 533 of those matches had no review, where play is stopped for either the referee or the video assistant to look at the replay.

Only 42 matches had more than one review.

The study said that the accuracy of decisions involving match-changing incidents — such as goals, penalties and direct red cards — was 98.9 percent in matches where VAR is used.

The median time for a review was 39 seconds when the decision is based only on communication with the VAR and 79 seconds with the use of a pitchside monitor, the study said.(Reuters/NAN)
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(Edited by Olawale Alabi)