links are likely to be geoblocked to Australia
If you want to see the drawbacks of the VAR system, just watch...well, pretty much any Australian A-League match. It's the worst thing that's ever happened.
Now, to start with, our HAL refs are not great, not great at all. There are massive systemic issues with referee development, training and progression from grassroots, and it's not nearly as merit-based as it should be.
Significant, match-changing errors are, sadly, seen more often than not - and the officials are not held accountable.
So, we were optimistic when the VAR came in. But, incredibly, it's made a bad situation worse.
Most of the VAR decisions have been wrong.
There is no consistency, no rhyme or reason for when an incident goes to a VAR review. Sometimes the ref calls the VAR, but usually the VAR gets in the ref's ear and says 'hold up play mate, let's have a look'. But no consistency. Plenty of red card offences and clear penalties are drawing no attention from the VAR.
Although, it depends on which team is playing.
It's become very, very clear that some teams will get VAR decisions, and some won't. Because it's happened again. And again. And again. And again.
I've never heard so many fans talk about our national sporting body and referees being corrupt as I have since the VAR has come in. And, well, crap, it's so bad, and so one-sided that I can't even defend against those allegations. VAR in Australia is so bad that cheating, sadly, has become the only explanation that makes sense for what we're seeing.
And that's why VAR needs to go.
And this is just one weekend - heck, there's still another game to go. Just one single weekend.
Every weekend has seen inexplicable VAR controversy, sadly.
See, when it's a ref, we've all been angry at a ref, we've all had our team screwed over by a ref having a shocker and having the major decisions go one way. But there's still that faith that they're probably at least trying to be impartial, maybe they're just having 'one of those games', maybe they were unsighted, maybe they just made an honest mistake in the heat of the moment.
But when there's a clear wrong decision by the referee and the VAR is SUPPOSED to get involved and doesn't. Or when the VAR does get involved and gets the decision wrong. And when those 2 things occur time and time again. And the same teams, over and over again are benefiting - and the same teams, over and over again, are copping the raw end....well, there's no explanation that makes sense. They can't be justified as simple errors.
Last week we were fortunate enough to see perhaps the most black-and-white example of this. It's very, very rare that '2 tackles are the same', but here it was. A player was cautioned for stomping on an opponent's foot. Fair enough.
Minutes later, same player did the EXACT same thing again. Only difference? It was in the PA. Ref saw it, did nothing (ball went out after, by the way). Now, a player goes down hurt screaming that he got stepped on, you're going to check with your AR if you didn't see it - or VAR if you have it. He didn't, so he did see it, but chose to be inconsistent. But, given the previous decision, it's a 'clear and obvious' error, and a penalty decision, so VAR should have become involved, gone to a ref review at least. VAR didn't so much as look at it.
Now, this weekend - the HAL has probably lost a lot of viewers, because this weekend has been an absolute farce with the VAR.
Last night, a player is clearly caught on camera, completely off-the-ball, lifting a leg and stamping his studs back into the shin of an opponent.
https://www.foxsports.com.au/footba...m/news-story/a1e2e26a5647dde83ec03ff204eea629
VAR (the same VAR who was in the stomping incident) said it could be yellow or red so wasn't a 'clear and obvious' error. Ludicrous. Also, the blue team (the offending team) are the team that has benefited from a LOT of VAR decisions.
Out of interest, the victim was later sent off by the VAR for an elbow.
Tonight though...same problems
Early on a WSW (Western Sydney Wanderers) player goes into a bad tackle and is booked. You can see on replay that the player actually deliberately throws his studs into the opponent's torso. Should be red - so the VAR should have intervened. Nothing.
Later on, a Central Coast Mariners (CCM) player is cautioned for stamping his studs onto an opponent's calf. Not overly hard, but he did it. The ref is less than 10 yards away, perfect view. Cautioned. Later calls the VAR, VAR tells the ref to check it on the sideline monitor, red card. Now, red card was probably correct. BUT - was it 'red' enough for a clear and obvious error? Well, bear in mind the other stomp from last night. See what I'm getting at?
Also, this is the player who copped the boot to the gut earlier.
A couple of minutes later, a WSW player comes
flying in with an aerial scissors tackle. Easy red. Nope, cautioned, no hint of VAR involvement.
Later in the game, there's a fairly routine late tackle. There's a slight glance of studs across the shin, but he hasn't gone through the player, he came from side/behind angle (and studs were across the front and barely touched). It's a caution for a late tackle - we often see harder 'studs-on-the-shin' challenges every week and nobody talks about them.
Inexplicably the ref, after issuing the caution, goes to the VAR, who then seems to enjoy another moment in the spotlight, refers it back to the ref who inexplicably sends him off.
https://www.foxsports.com.au/video/football/a-league/mariners-cop-2nd-var-red!656770
The non-reds aren't in this video. Out of interest, shortly after the fitness coach from CCM was also shown the red card, and the active supporters group left in protest.
funnily enough, even the WSW players at the first one didn't want the whole VAR-red card debacle.
Now, I have found it problematic that the on-field ref is presented with 3 simultaneous loops from different angles in slow-motion. This is not a good system.
Also, in the game immediately before was this penalty:
https://www.foxsports.com.au/footba...m/news-story/779e55cc0702d80560a126eecf5a24db
Horrendous decision - clearly accidental handling. Inexplicably the ref gives it, and inexplicably the VAR is silent. And yet again we have the VAR appearing to follow a set hierarchy of which clubs benefit from VAR decisions.
and this is just the tip of the iceberg - but I've never seen soooo many people so disillusioned with the league and soooo fed up with the referee, and convinced that the referees are not being impartial, as I have since the VAR was introduced. Now, there are a whole heap of other problems down here with the body that runs football and how the competition is very badly managed, but the VAR has been a huge contributor. Because, frankly, the VAR is making it look like the league is rigged. The decisions and the inconsistency are just
that bad. And when stacks of fans are believing that....well, people are stopping turning up to games or turning on their TV.
No idea how it's been going overseas, but here, it's a joke and it needs to go. But there are so many problems with the training, coaching and assessing of our HAL referees that I shouldn't be surprised. Some people are half convinced they're deliberately using it to make a mockery of the sport to taint the reports back to FIFA to stop it being brought in permanently.
It's reached the point where fans are expecting the VAR to define each match with an incorrect decision (whether it's incorrect in its own right, or not correcting an incorrect referee decision)
