IN WHAT will come as welcome news to many, and poison in the ears of others, is the announcement this afternoon that the Scottish FA and SPFL are to explore the possibility of introducing VAR.
They’ll aim to implement it for all Premiership matches as well as the latter rounds of cup competitions. Top flight clubs will attend a summit hosted by former referee Howard Webb next Friday to debate the full introduction of VAR. Webb is General Manager of the Professional Referee Organisation in Major League Soccer and was initially in charge of implementing VAR in the United States.
SFA Chief Executive Ian Maxwell said: “VAR has been under discussion by the Scottish FA’s Professional Game Board since its introduction into the Laws of the Game in 2018. Scottish football took the view that it was preferable to see the technology be refined, overcome inevitable teething problems and, naturally, become more cost-effective.
“VAR is here to stay and in a short period, its implementation has advanced significantly, while its set-up and maintenance costs have reduced. We are now at the point where we need to discuss and ideally agree on its introduction into Scottish football.
“The Scottish FA believes it is necessary for the evolution of our domestic game, to provide additional support to our match officials and also to maximise their potential on the domestic, European and international stages.”
Meanwhile, his SPFL counterpart Neil Doncaster said: “Given the costs involved and the potential effects on the natural flow of the game, it was always a sensible decision to monitor the introduction of VAR in other competitions before considering implementation in the cinch Premiership.
“Now that there has been a meaningful bedding-in period in several leagues, now is a good time to look again at the benefits of the technology. We are keen to hear the views of the clubs, officials and fans and look forward to discussions over the next few months.”
Will it improve the game?
Having worked down south for a number of years I’ve witnessed VAR in operation at first hand and its introduction in Scottish football has to be met with some trepidation. Personally speaking, if VAR is used correctly then it can be a good thing, however, when it was introduced in the Premier League in 2019 it ruined the game as a spectacle.
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Goals were ruled out for the most trivial of things such as a player’s elbow being slightly offside, penalties were awarded for handball even if a defender’s arm and hand were in a natural position, players were having to scale back their goal celebrations as the likelihood was it would have to be checked by VAR and in general, it simply infuriated supporters and coaches due to it not being used correctly.
Part of the reason for that is, unlike in the World Cup in 2018, referees in the Premier League weren’t going over to check the monitor at the side of the pitch. Instead, there was a team of officials based at Stockley Park watching incidents on a TV screen and making important calls in games.
They weren't anywhere near the stadiums and red hot atmospheres where these incidents had taken place. They were making judgements having slowed the play to the nth degree thus resulting in questionable decisions that were being debated on radio and TV for days on end.
As a broadcaster, it made my job more challenging. Instead of reporting on a goal being scored it was commonplace to have to wait a good few minutes before confirming if said strike was legitimate or if a player’s left knee was a fraction offside in the sixth phase of play.
It sounds bonkers and it was. In the end, no one in the stadium really understood what was going on which often led to chants from the stands. 'Fuck VAR!' was regularly heard at numerous grounds up and down the country. The problem was it was used to such an extent that officials were using it to the microscopic detail and it totally spoiled the game we all love.
The Premier League had to do something to make it work more effectively and fortunately following the success of VAR at the Euros in the summer changes were made.
Now, referees can go over to the monitor to check an incident themselves, thicker lines are used to give attackers the benefit of the doubt when it comes to offside calls, this eliminates the idiotic decisions that were made when a player’s toe could be considered offside. Accidental handball has been altered so no longer are penalties awarded simply for striking a players arm or hand and penalties themselves have also been altered with referees given greater responsibility to decide whether or not to point to the spot.
Now, this has taken two years of major teething problems before reaching this stage. The worry should Scottish football introduce VAR is they don’t learn the lessons from their English counterparts.
The likes of Willie Collum, Don Robertson, Kevin Clancy and others will need to have access to a pitchside monitor, if we take the decision making out of their hands and entrust a group of unknown officials in a truck somewhere then it’s going to cause major problems. Conspiracy theories would run wild.
All in all though, this can be a positive step taken by Scottish football but an element of caution has to be stressed because failure to use VAR wisely will harm what little credibility we have of our game.
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