Premier League needs to frame VAR far better, for ref’s sake

Harry De Cosemo

VAR was brought in to simplify football and help it run smoother. It has complicated things and constantly saps games of their momentum.

 

There was a moment of realisation that swept the country as it watched events unfold at Wembley last summer. Euro 2020, delayed to 2021 by the pandemic, had been all about Gareth Southgate’s England for most, but one of the two games at the national stadium that didn’t involve them caught the attention in a different way.

Italy were facing Austria in the last 16 on the same pitch where they would be crowned champions a couple of weeks later. English involvement, aside from the setting, came in the form of the officials. Anthony Taylor refereed the game with Stuart Atwell on VAR duty.


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After two years’ worth of complaints over the use of the technology in the Premier League, it had caused very few issues in the tournament itself. Everything had been swift, no-nonsense and to the point; just as the World Cup had been three years earlier, it was an advert for how the system can really aid the game. But when Marko Arnautovic thought he’d given Austria the lead with a second-half header only for it to be disallowed for offside, the true picture became clear.

Just as it had in the Premier League, the decision seemed to take an age, stunting the pace of a game that had already proven laborious up up to that point. It was evidence that the way VAR is used in England – and perhaps even the approach and attitude of the officials in control of it – is the problem, rather than the system itself. Teething problems are natural but were ironed out much quicker in other leagues and on the continent. From the start in England it has been a tool to re-referee games – something that has been actively discouraged, but still appears to be prominent.

Marko Arnautovic celebrates

We sit here almost every Monday and Tuesday lamenting another refereeing decision without fail. Right now, be it the failure to send Robert Sanchez off during Brighton’s defeat to Liverpool after he challenged Luis Diaz in the build-up to the opening goal, or Kai Havertz remaining on the pitch after an elbow on Dan Burn before scoring the winner for Chelsea against Newcastle, not to mention Trevoh Chalobah wrestling Jacob Murphy to the ground and not conceding a penalty, the anger and frustration is incredibly high. It has been for years.

VAR’s arrival was billed as a seminal moment. The backers predicted it would end all contention and sense of unfairness, promising to stop goals like Diego Maradona’s ‘Hand of God’ for Argentina against England at the 1986 World Cup without adversely impacting the quality of the games. The critics, meanwhile, said even if it worked, it would kill ‘pub debate’. Neither of those things has happened, particularly in this country because decisions haven’t been consistent enough. The same subjective reliance on each referee to make the right call remains. Yet VAR is constantly lambasted; it is that which has ruined the game and needs to be replaced in the eyes of many. Machines are only as good as the people who operate them.

As well as the pitfalls of human error, certain aspects of decision-making are problematic. The idea of a mistake by the on-field official needing to be clear and obvious returns us to the subjective issue, because there is no guidance to suggest what may or may not qualify. It is purely down to the VAR official, meaning they are having a much bigger influence on the match than they should be. Taking the Chalobah foul on Murphy case as an example, if the referee was able to have a second viewing of the incident on the pitchside monitor at his own discretion, it would make the whole situation feel more under their control. At least then the two officials could have a discussion, regardless of whether they believe a foul to have been committed or not.

As it is, whenever the referee checks the monitor, the decision has already been made. It is the VAR who has control, not the on-pitch official; things may work better if that was flipped. With offsides, too, the meaning has changed entirely. It used to be that level with the last defender meant onside. The entire premise was to give the advantage to the attacker. Now level means long, intense breaks in play, zooming in to see if a toenail’s width might put the striker ahead.

While the argument that offside is entirely objective is built on sound logic, in practice, it has caused real damage. The aim is now to scour for any reason to disallow a goal. That is hardly in the spirit of the game. VAR was brought in to simplify football and help it run smoother.

Questions over the quality of refereeing in England go back a long way, preceding VAR. Collective responsibility has to be taken. Attitudes towards officials is toxic right through the game, beginning at grassroots level. Abuse is turning young referees away and that means the pool of quality is smaller at the top.

But the way VAR is framed in England is magnifying the issue and football is suffering because of it.