A&H

France v England, Penalty 46th minute

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There should be no VARs in friendlies. If there was no VAR in this game, it would have then been a yellow card with very little controversy
To my eyes, the red card was the correct sanction, surely a caution would be incorrect and have created a greater controversy not a lesser one?
 

Varanes left leg makes contact with dele allis right leg causing the collision of dele's leg. I think there might also be some connection on the heels.
Thanks for that!
Pen. Red card. Dire midfield. Cahill looked champo. We need a whole new midfield. Someone buy Wilshire already!
 
I understand the 'Letter of the Law' stuff but at the end of the day football pays our wages at all levels. People pay good money to see 22 footballer perform and not a referee on a mission to ruin a friendly spectacle. We are a mere bastion of seeing fair play and the institutors of Dem Laws...Whilst this isn't wrong at all in Dem Laws we have to be careful that this VAR jolly becomes a view piece for everything and anything that isn't plain and simple. Things slowed down always look worse!. The U20s championship recently players were already making the square sign to pressure referees to look at something, this wants nipping in the bud NOW before it gets like US football and the fans vote with their feet and we'll all be out on our backsides. Friendlies are different, hopefully relaxed, more 'friendly' as the name suggests and I'm sure a bit of common sense could have prevailed and 22 men would have continued...Cue the Weekend Warriors revolt!!!
 
Keith Hackett should find whatever stone Nigel Farage is hiding behind and go and join him.

That is a blatant, blatant penalty, and he's made himself look stupid again in saying that it wasn't.
 
I understand the 'Letter of the Law' stuff but at the end of the day football pays our wages at all levels. People pay good money to see 22 footballer perform and not a referee on a mission to ruin a friendly spectacle. We are a mere bastion of seeing fair play and the institutors of Dem Laws...Whilst this isn't wrong at all in Dem Laws we have to be careful that this VAR jolly becomes a view piece for everything and anything that isn't plain and simple. Things slowed down always look worse!. The U20s championship recently players were already making the square sign to pressure referees to look at something, this wants nipping in the bud NOW before it gets like US football and the fans vote with their feet and we'll all be out on our backsides. Friendlies are different, hopefully relaxed, more 'friendly' as the name suggests and I'm sure a bit of common sense could have prevailed and 22 men would have continued...Cue the Weekend Warriors revolt!!!
Without knowing how experienced you are, I don't want to comment too deeply, but this is an attitude taht has absolutely NEVER worked for me. Some of the worst matches I've ever had are down to me going in thinking it's only a "friendly", delaying getting the cards out as a result and letting the players get right on top of me. I would always advise new referees to avoid thinking of them as "friendlies", as that attitude will only ever get you into difficulty.
 
So many things here that were/are not as per the VAR protocol.
Ref was going to give a yellow and then put it back away and got the red out. Must have been told by the VR.
The players seemed confused at first as to what was going on and I have to say I was wondering too - all because the referee did not follow the protocol, which says:
The referee must clearly indicate that the review process has been initiated by visually showing the outline of a TV screen; a decision can not be changed unless the review signal has been shown.

What initiates the video decision here though? If the referee doesn't ask for help and they don't offer him any the whole process is flawed
Covered by the protocol:
The VAR will automatically ‘check’ every situation/decision to see if a potential clear error has been made in a match-changing situation or if a serious incident/offence has been missed [...] If a ‘check’ indicates that an incident should be reviewed, the referee should be informed immediately.

The U20s championship recently players were already making the square sign to pressure referees to look at something, this wants nipping in the bud NOW
Again, all they have to do is follow the instructions in the protocol:
A player who uses the ‘review signal’ will be cautioned (YC).
The 4th official is qualified to referee the game in the event of the match referee becoming injured... he/she is more than competent to make the correct call.
Not allowed according to the protocol and would violate perhaps the most important principle underlying the Laws of the Game - that the referee is the sole judge of facts concerned with play. Once again, the protocol makes several important points clear in this regard:
2. The final decision will always be taken by the referee.
3. Video Assistant Referees (VARs) are match officials - any information the VARs provide to the referee will be treated by the referee in the same way as information received from an assistant referee, additional assistant referee or the fourth official. [...]
6. Only the referee can initiate a review; the VAR (and the other match officials) can only recommend a review to the referee. [...]
Once the review is initiated, the referee has the option to:
• make a decision based only on the information received from the VAR or
• review the footage directly before making a final decision (on-field review – OFR)
The most important principle in all this (and that some people seem to be confused over) is that the VAR is not allowed to make any decisions, they are only there to offer advice/information and the final decision still rests with the referee.
 
Without knowing how experienced you are, I don't want to comment too deeply, but this is an attitude taht has absolutely NEVER worked for me. Some of the worst matches I've ever had are down to me going in thinking it's only a "friendly", delaying getting the cards out as a result and letting the players get right on top of me. I would always advise new referees to avoid thinking of them as "friendlies", as that attitude will only ever get you into difficulty.

If they want to take the proverbial then we have tools to sort them out however i feel we should always have the ability to step back a bit from the intricacies if the LOTG in certain situations. Yes, friendlies can go mental, any game can, I've sent off 3 from the same team in one however many pre-season or charity games etc can easily be refereed with a lesser degree on being pedantic or holier than thou as long as they don't abuse your kind nature and play up.
 
I think there's a difference between Dog and Duck Reserves vs Red Lion 3rd Team and England vs France....probably about 70k paying speccies and a few million on the tele.
 
There are 100s of examples of top refs allowing flexibility on friendlies don't pretend it never happens.
 
@Peter Grove Protocol needs to change. That would be the only way to stop the referee running off the field.

The France and England game just goes to show how the system should work. The referee makes a decision based on the facts... the facts (that this was a red card offence) can be seen time and time again on a replay and certainly doesn't take much to work out the action to take. You have a referee on the side of the pitch who is part of your team... be a part of a team and allow those colleagues to help you make decisions. There is no teamwork involved in using VAR when the referee has to run off the field to view an incident, particularly when there is a colleague who is perfectly capable of making a decsion on the sidelines (who the match referee has to run past get to the monitor).
 
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There are 100s of examples of top refs allowing flexibility on friendlies don't pretend it never happens.
Sure. And I'm saying that this logic clearly hasn't been used her as it's all done by the book, and whenever I've tried to use that logic in real life, it's always worked badly for me.

Apply the laws as written and you're on safe ground. Make up variations because it's a "friendly" and you're making a rod for your own back with inconsistencies and unfairness.
 
The real test for a VAR will come with a mass confrontation. Usually we see the original offence punished but all the handbags and players running 40 yards aggressively get away without YCs. Is there any guidance or examples of this yet, what will happen when the VAR is faced with a mass con?
 
I think that is when we will see the more benefits. Fabregas's and Costa's slaps last season along with a few Fellaini elbows... It will save a lot of hassle. Video AR will see it and bring it to the attention of the referee.
 
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