TheNewsGuru

Tag: VAR

  • I went viral for the wrong reasons – Mourinho

    I went viral for the wrong reasons – Mourinho

    Dele Alli was lucky to have escaped a serious injury from a Raheem Sterling tackle when Tottenham Hotspur beat Manchester City 2-0 last Sunday, Jose Mourinho has said while admitting his behaviour during the match saw him go viral “for the wrong reasons”.

    It was one of several refereeing decisions to grate on Mourinho during the gripping encounter, with the use of VAR once again at the centre of post-match discussions.

    But Alli was fit enough to face Southampton on Wednesday. “No, it’s not as bad as we first thought,” Mourinho told reporters.

    “It’s just a question of being a little bit lucky, or unlucky. You need a little bit of luck. Dele Alli was very lucky.

    “Did Sterling want to injure him? I don’t think so, I don’t believe that he wanted to hurt Alli. So, respect to Sterling, I have no problem at all.

    “But the intention does not count. What counts is the action. It is a red card.”

    Mourinho was particularly animated on the touchline against City, with footage of one action going viral on social media – the clip showing him sprinting to the fourth official to complain about a decision in the aftermath of Hugo Lloris’ penalty save.

    The Portuguese coach accepts he may have gone too far with his reaction, but explained his frustration stemmed from what he feels is a misuse of VAR.

    “[I went viral] in a funny way, but not in a good way, but I say in a funny way,” he said.

    “I think the fact that now it is allowed to have the screen in front of us… I think it’s not good for the emotions, for our emotions, because we watch and we watch exactly the same as the VAR [official] is watching, decisions the referees don’t see as well as we do.

    “That’s because the referees, they are on the pitch and, as I was saying the other day, it is 200 miles per hour and very difficult for them, and sometimes they don’t see things the same way we do.

  • VAR: Premier League referees set to use pitchside monitors

    VAR: Premier League referees set to use pitchside monitors

    Premier League referees have been told to start using pitchside monitors from this weekend, if a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) recommends changing a decision on a red card, the UK Times reports.

    This comes after a routine meeting involving match officials this week.

    The PGMOL and Premier League have previously recommended monitors are only used for unseen incidents, or incidents which fall outside of a referee’s range of expectations.

    However, the new instruction has been given to match officials, to use the monitor when the VAR wants to either upgrade a card to a red or downgrade it to a yellow.

    Last month, FIFA president, Gianni Infantino said he wanted to see referees use pitchside monitors, stating he was unaware they hadn’t been used in the Premier League this season.

    No pitchside monitor has been used in nearly 220 Premier League games played this season.

  • EPL: Sheff Utd move fifth as VAR denies West Ham

    EPL: Sheff Utd move fifth as VAR denies West Ham

    Sheffield United climbed to fifth in the Premier League table on Friday with a win against West Ham, who had an injury-time equaliser ruled out by Video Assistant Referee.

    John Fleck took advantage of a big mistake by substitute goalkeeper David Martin, latching on to his wayward pass to tee up Oli McBurnie to finish from close range after 53 minutes.

    Substitute Robert Snodgrass thought he had levelled for the visitors, but the goal was disallowed after the ball was judged to have hit Declan Rice’s arm in the build-up.

    “VAR, VAR”, the home fans chanted as the final whistle sounded, with West Ham condemned to their eighth defeat in 11 Premier League games and their first under new manager David Moyes.

    The result means the Hammers remain two points above the relegation zone and could drop into the bottom three if results go against them this weekend.

  • FIFA may stop Premier League of using VAR

    FIFA may stop Premier League of using VAR

    The Premier League may be told to adopt the International Football Association Board (IFAB)’s VAR protocols, or risk their license being revoked.

    The new technology continued to cause controversy on New Year’s Day, when Aston Villa had a goal ruled out for offside, with Wesley’s heel adjudged to be offside.

    The decision is another in a series of incidents from December, which has annoyed fans and pundits.

    And now, according to former Sky Sports commentator, Richard Keys, FIFA are ready to intervene.

    Keys tweeted: “Hearing that FIFA are going to give PL an ultimatum to adopt IFAB VAR protocol.

    “At worst they can take the license away and stop them using it.”

    IFAB’s general secretary, Lukas Brud, said last week that officials on the pitch and monitoring cameras, “should not become “too forensic” over offsides or any other decisions.

  • Infantino urges EPL referees to use VAR monitors

    FIFA president Gianni Infantino described referees as “heroes” and urged Premier League officials to start using pitch-side monitors before making key decisions involving VAR.

    Infantino told Sky Sports News on Friday, that he was unaware Premier League referees have not been making the final call on VAR decisions.

    The FIFA chief lauded the “difficult” work of referees on the pitch but encouraged them to “accept the help” of pitch-side monitors to enable them to play a more active role in the VAR process.

    “The job of the referee is so difficult, these guys are heroes, we are all criticising them so let’s help them and they have to accept the help.

    “They have a safety net when they are not sure or when somebody who sees the images telling them to go and check. They should go and check.”

    Despite VAR’s controversial start in the Premier League, Infantino says the system is helping football and as the technology improves, so too will the game.

    “VAR is making [football] more just and clean and if we have to wait one minute or two minutes, we have a game-changing decision which is taken correctly instead of wrongly.

    “Of course, VAR will improve, will develop, and will have automatised offsides because that’s what technology will give us today or tomorrow.

    “Offside and handball are these two situations which we need to constantly analyse and see how we can and if we can, these are difficult topics.”

     

  • Madrid challenge referee, VAR decision in El Clasico

    Real Madrid have aired their Clasico grievances about the referee and VAR on the club’s official website

    The Spanish side criticised Alejandro Jose Hernandez Hernandez in the site, pinpointing what they believed constituted great mistakes in his decision during Wednesday’s derby with arch-rivals Barcelona at Nou Camp.

    Real’s complaint was that Rafael Varane suffered two fouls that in their opinion should have been given as penalties.

    A statement on the club’s website read: ‘Rafael Varane was stood on by Lenglet and two minutes later had his shirt pulled by Ivan Rakitic.

    “Varane was involved in two controversial moments in El Clásico at the Camp Nou. The Frenchman could have had two penalties in the first half but Hernandez Hernandez did not give either of them.

    “On minute 17, the madridista went to head a corner before Lenglet stood on his thigh muscle in the area, but neither the referee nor VAR (where De Burgos Bengoetxea was in charge) deemed it a penalty.

    “Two minutes later and following another corner, the central defender had his shirt pulled by Ivan Rakitic, which saw him end up on the ground in the penalty area. However, once again, neither the referee or (sic) the VAR system decided to award the penalty.’

    The article on the website was illustrated a screen grab of Rakitic holding onto Varane’s shirt as they jostle for a corner.

  • UEFA president criticises VAR use

    Football needs uncertainty, the head of European soccer body UEFA said, as he criticised the way the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology had changed the character of football matches.

    Aleksander Ceferin said that UEFA would propose soccer’s rulemaking IFAB make changes to the way the VAR system, officially introduced in 2018, was being implemented, though he did not want to give more details.

    The use of system, where match officials use video replays to check decisions by the referee on the pitch and flag possible mistakes, has been surrounded by controversy over the last few months.

    Critics say the system goes far beyond its original remit and that decisions are taking too long.

    “The game is changing and we are afraid that it is changing too much,” Ceferin told reporters following a UEFA executive committee meeting, adding that the search for refereeing perfection was futile.

    “Football needs uncertainty because the players make mistakes and the referees on the pitch have to take responsibility, not some people hidden in a van or a building 500 kilometres from the venue,” he said.

    “I can live with the fact that referees are human beings who make mistakes but now when technology makes a mistake, that is a problem,” he said.

    Ceferin said he was not against VAR in principle but said that “we have to make it clearer, we have to make it faster, we have to make it less invasive — but it will stay.”

    One of the biggest sources of controversy has involved offside decisions where VAR officials use gridlines superimposed on the screen, leading to goals being disallowed because a player’s toe or armpit was offside.

    “The line is very thin and it’s drawn by the VAR so it’s the subjective line of an objective fact which is a bit strange,” said Ceferin.

    Other sources of confusion include the new handball rule and how far back in a move VAR officials should go when checking for infringements.

    “Do we check five minutes, do we check 15 minutes?” he said. “The referee never said in the past that we had to go back to a foul seven minutes ago.”

    “We still don’t know which handball is handball, who is drawing the lines, how thick the lines are…..there are many questions ahead.”

  • Lawmakers consider changes in VAR

    Lawmakers consider changes in VAR

    Football lawmakers are considering whether to make changes to Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology in the game.

    The International Football Association Board (IFAB) will hold a key meeting in Belfast on Tuesday and receive feedback from its advisory panel.

    Football’s most powerful administrators will discuss updates on the use of VARs around the world, including the Premier League.

    “It’s still relatively new technology for the game of football,” Patrick Nelson, Irish Football Association chief executive and IFAB’s chairman, told Sky Sports. “Cricket and rugby have had it for a long time.

    “We need to look at the data that we’ve got, from the many experiments around the world, and see if there are any tweaks to the protocol that we need to make, to make it better for everyone in the game.”

    Premier League referees’ chief Mike Riley is expected to hold talks on VAR standards with former Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger.

    Wenger, FIFA’s new Chief of Global Football Development, is also a member of IFAB’s football and technical advisory panels and he is expected to attend the discussion in Northern Ireland.

    But Nelson stressed that IFAB will only focus on VAR’s impact on the global game, where technology is currently used in 25 countries.

    “IFAB is about the parks game, as well as the World Cup final,” he explains. “A lot of the media interest, and supporter interest, tends to be around the top-end games in the professional part of football. The laws of the game, they’re there for everyone. We have to take that into account all the time.”

  • EPL: VAR decision affected Chelsea – Lampard

    Chelsea manager Frank Lampard said his team deserved “at least a point” against Liverpool and believes the VAR decision to deny them a goal had a significant effect on his team.

    Cesar Azpilicueta had a goal disallowed by VAR for an offside call on Mason Mount in the build-up to what would have cancelled out Trent Alexander-Arnold’s opener in the club’s 2-1 defeat to Liverpool on Sunday.

    Instead, the Reds doubled their lead through Roberto Firmino, before N’Golo Kante pulled one back in the 71st minute.

    Lampard told talkSPORT: “It’s here to stay, so it’s frustrating. It definitely kills the moment, that’s for sure.

    “People pay their money and they want to celebrate, the players want to celebrate and now, we’re all going to have to try to wait a moment. It’s difficult.

    “I saw the Tottenham game yesterday [where VAR disallowed a Serge Aurier goal against Leicester], and it’s a shame when you’re talking about tough decisions.

    “But we have to accept it, it’s here, it’s not going anywhere, I just hope some go in our favour very soon.”

  • Premier League prepared for VAR controversy

    The Premier League says there is “no doubt” video assistant referees (VAR) will cause controversy next season but it is “prepared” for it.

    VAR will be used in the English top-flight for the first time in the 2019-20 season.
    It has been controversially used in World Cups, Champions League and some domestic cup matches in recent seasons.
    But Premier League’s interim chief executive Richard Masters says it is “ready to launch it” after testing.
    “We have spent two years working up to this point, and we were committed to doing it in our heads for two years,” Masters said.
    “I have no doubt it will create some controversy because it is about the big decisions but we are prepared for that.
    “We have been training and testing and making sure when it happens, particularly on Saturday afternoons when we have got multiple matches going on, that we have a number of VARs trained.
    “We feel that is done and we are ready to launch it.”
    BBC