Although VAR has already been used in some leagues / cups, this is the first time it's used in the real center stage. Through the VAR process, during the group stages, there were quite a few plays where the ref actually did review plays. Those situations basically became inexistent during the KO stage. Was that already a consequence of VAR influencing how players are playing the game ? FIFA actually "blamed" VAR for the high number of set piece goals in this WC with the explanation that with VAR, there is less grabbing during those FK and CK crosses and therefore it's easier for attacking players to score off those dead ball situation crosses. I am not so sure about that as we all still saw plenty of defenders taking plenty of liberties with their hands. Although there were still some controversial no-calls / calls, I think VAR overall worked. There were lots of confusion about when the people in the VAR war room were supposed to signal the ref for a replay or not. Many of the people asking those questions actually didn't really completely understand the VAR system IMO as it's supposed to be clear mistakes by the ref that gives him the opportunity to see another replay. Still there were some plays that confused people like Ronaldo's elbow vs Iran since VAR is supposed to be used for red card offenses (should have been no card or red ? .. but yellow ?). What does everybody think the indirect consequences of VAR will be ?
There are 3 separate issues: 1) How did VAR do in this tournament? My own view: not as well as it should have. There were clear mistakes made and the standards applied weren't applied evenly. 2) As a concept, can VAR help? Yes, but that will require the following IMO: First, a new rule for infractions in the box. There are simply too many of them that can either be ignored (which gives the side committing them an unfair advantage) or to call all of them penalties when most of them really don't involve scoring a chance. For me, penalties are appropriate only for infractions that affect a legitimate dangerous chance being developed or a scoring chance that is being denied. The rest of the infractions should have a lesser sanction (i.e., indirect freekick or a direct freekick from the edge of the box). Without this rule change, VAR can actually become very dangerous in allowing games and their results to be choreographed. That is because VAR can give legitimacy to some infractions being called a penalty while still ignoring a lot of others which could be but which many fans would not want to see called penalties. Second, each team should have the right to request VAR once as a matter of course. If their request is shown to be meritoriousness, they lose the right to ask for VAR again. If it is shown to be meritorious, they can ask again. Similar to what you have in volleyball. Third, any time taken for VAR should be clearly and completely added to the game. 3) Is VAR practical for every tournament or game? No. VAR cannot be implemented in many countries and tournaments. The resources required are beyond the means of most sides in football and many of the games that are played.
I see it like any judgment call or officiating process. Some refs have different patterns than others. VAR is only supposed to be used to overturn clear and obvious errors and it is really up to the discretion of the ref to use it or not.
You have to define not looked at. The VAR team in the war room reviewed every disputable play. So you probably mean the ref himself. I think as a first trial, they had to be careful to not try to stop the game too much. A lot of the plays people used to show that VAR wasn’t consistent, actually had people with different opinions if it was a PK or not and etc ... I didn’t read this, just heard it, but supposedly the VAR team cannot use slow motion replay . Or maybe they referred to the replays the ref is actually able to see.
I wasn't impressed. The fact that reviews by the ref were almost non-existent past the first few group stage games shows that the word came down in favor of keeping play flowing over sporting truth. Like as mentioned above, grabbing and other hand usage in the box was as bad as it ever was in major competitions.
I believe if they had gone straight for calling all holds in the box during corners and FKs, it could have turned into a mess. Perhaps with time that will be dealt with and players will adjust.
As a Colombia fan I can attest that they did call one instance of grabbing and pulling in the box of Harry Kane. (even though Tunisia did much worse to him and was not called for anything at all in the Group stage.) That said, it was once again up to the discretion of the Ref and he did not even use VAR.
I thought penalties for Brazil (vs Bel) and Serbia (vs Sui) should have been called and those were the biggest mistakes imo. I was however more concerned about VAR slowing the game down for those at the stadium but having witnessed it being used in person on several occasions, it isn't any worse than for example Neymar's injury faking and other time-wasting antics so I think VAR is a good thing and it performed well this year. It can only get better.
True. Just like any new technology that is introduced in any scenario it will have some bumps and growing pains when first implemented but things should get better with time and patience.
Well, VAR struck again in the Final. Wether it was the right call or not, it's still the refs decision to make the call. What was a bad tell was the fact that he reviewed the play, started walking away, and then returned to look at the replay one more time. In terms of being a "clear mistake" , that didn't look good for VAR.
The good thing about VAR was that it has virtually ended diving in the box. That was a great thing. The bad was that it was used inconsistently. Different rules and standards for different matches. Some blatant calls were missed or even made even after VAR review. More bad is that there were far more soft PKs which destroys the game IMO. Overall I don't think it was the success many are making it out to be. I don't think there wad any less controversy than without it, in fact there may have even been more. It could definately get better with time and more clarity about the rules.
So there is less diving in the box... How about outside the box(Griezman today)? How many refs will have the personality to say NO when players bunch up around him demandind a replay for any little thing? Or when a very loud and menacing crowd does it? 1 in 10? Let's face it, the var makes it easy for a ref to wash his/her hands and "go to the videotape". Is this going to be rolled out and required for every crappy league around the world? How many refs watching the screen? Who's paying for it? Are we gonna end up with two different worlds? One "developed elite" one where the players get used to playing "the var way" and the other world(the poor majority) playing "the old way"? These two different worlds will be playing two different games, folks. Are we sure that is what we want? This just off the top of my head, I'm sure there is more...
The cost of VAR is definitely prohibitive to be used in all leagues at all levels. But all major leagues and competitions should be able to implement it.
France's first goal came from a Griezmann dive and resulting free kick. France's second goal came from an unintentional handball and resulting PK. VAR is fine. The problem is still stupid humans using it. Replace the referee with a computer program and the problem will go away!
Lot of butthurt people here, pretending to be objective. He took too long to decide, boo hoo. Football is not played by computer systems, nor is it refereed by them. Some situations are not black and white and could be called both ways. Unintentional handball? Is it normal to wave your arms like a bird while jumping? He deferred the ball by 90 degrees, stopped it from going into the crowd of players and prevented a potentially dangerous situation. Not clear as day, that's why it took long to decide but he made the right call. If you want to end such penalties blame it on the rules, not on the ref. Also you have to be a real idiot to post a clip on Youtube titled "Griezmann dive" while the clip shows the foul was clear as day... but we have that here:
I'm for VAR no matter the bullshits that the refs made on the final if you forgot this we should say that the introducing of VAR helps a lot... We all remember the Champions League last season and all the "mistakes" that were made(in favour of Real Madrid). So now lets hope that VAR will be in the next edition of Champions League so the refs will be able to take their time and get the correct decision
It worked better than I expected and also better than I've seen it in club fixtures, although that is a more limited sample. VAR did reduce the pulling and shoving in the area. I think they changed the use for that type of thing after the first round of group matches. Hence the award of penalties for England against Panama but not Tunisia. It was after that the fouling reduced. No doubt that led to more set piece goals. It is never going to work to everyone's liking when decision are opinion rather than fact. I don't think there were any VAR howlers that unambiguously wrong. What did people in the stadiums think? I was only watching on TV so had the advantage of replays.
Yup. I love VAR and think it will only improve as the years go by. It is needed in the World Cup and other big tournaments I could care less if small nations and small leagues can;t afford it.
Overall, I like VAR. Cost isn't a big deal. So what if England's Champion League can't afford it? Besides, the costs will go down as more leagues and competitions utilize VAR. I don't care is some calls were missed. More calls were corrected. And for anyone who's watched America's Big Three sports leagues adopt video review, well, this was positively seamless in it's implementation. The longest review was the Perisic handball, wasn't it? That was about 45 seconds. With the ref going back for the second viewing. As a fan, I would obviously want VAR to apply for diving, but the powers that be want to keep Neymar in the tournament, so they won't call it. But that would be the next frontier. This was a GREAT start. It should only get better.
I thought it was better than having nothing, though it disappearing in the KO's before showing up in the final is a bit odd. I would still rather have a means to not rob a country of an every 4 year opportunity, than have nothing, even if I think they got the hand ball call wrong. Application should improve as time goes on I would think and clean up some things for consistency.
It's not a VAR thing but related to your point, one aspect I didn't like was the unwillingness to give out yellow cards for persistent fouling. That opened the door to abusing dangerous players like Neymar.