By Daniel Duque, Oct. 24, 2023
An officiating error involving a video assistant referee during a Premier League match Sept. 30 provoked impassioned debates about the implementation of video review technology in soccer leagues across the globe.
During the Premier League game between Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool Football Clubs, a 35th minute goal by Liverpool’s left winger Luis Diaz was erroneously ruled offside due to miscommunication between VAR and on-field officials. Tottenham won the match 2-1, marking Liverpool’s only loss so far this season.
The VAR process, which allows a team of officials to remotely review and overturn erroneous calls live during soccer matches, was first tested in 2016 in a friendly match between Dutch clubs PSV and FC Eindhoven. After a successfully implementation in the 2018 Russia FIFA World Cup, multiple competitions began using it around the world, and it has remained a crucial tool to assist referees.
However, VAR officials have delivered multiple controversial calls that have drawn attention to the system’s limitations.
Fabio Tovar, a former referee and current Major League Soccer assistant VAR stressed spectators often blame referees for mistakes that are out of their control and rarely acknowledge when referees perform well.
“Most people see the errors,” said Tovar.
He added spectators are more likely to criticize a referee’s mistake in one minute and completely ignore good performance during the rest of the game.
“The one minute is the one that they remember,” Tovar said.
While VAR is now widespread in professional soccer leagues across the globe, college leagues in the United States simply do not have the resources to facilitate such advanced video review systems; however, video reviews are still a part of collegiate competitions.
In 2016, the NCAA approved basic guidelines that allow limited calls — specifically goal line decisions, disciplinary matters and identifying players involved in on-field brawls — to be reviewed by on-field officials by simply referring to the broadcast of the game. This can only happen if the game in question is being broadcast. Additionally, the guidelines are not enforced, which means individual conferences decide whether to use video review.
Max Laguna, a finance student and Cal Poly Pomona men’s soccer midfielder, pointed out the impact VAR has on the pace of the game.
“In soccer, there could be a team dominating the other team, attacking them, having them on their half and they make a call where you have to stop and wait five minutes; it just ruins that momentum,” said Laguna.
Laguna also said that VAR effectively eliminates certain strategies from the game like diving.
“It used to be part of the game,” he said. “Getting a foul at the edge of the box, maybe by Neymar flopping, could win you a game,” said Laguna. “Having players like that who are smart and could get you a foul by flopping or selling it would be kind of cute for today’s soccer.”
Flopping is when a player falls to the ground in exaggerated manner to fake a foul and trick the referee into calling a potential game winning free kick or penalty. Brazilian forward Neymar is one of the many players known for diving extensively.
Apart from minimizing certain strategies of the game, CPP’s men’s soccer head coach Matt O’Sullivan stressed that offside calls by VAR officials can be particularly controversial given how close those decisions often are.
“It is impossible to get it perfect,” said O’Sullivan. “It has to be a clear and obvious error.”
As a tool that relies on technology, Tovar added VAR can glitch or be affected by human error. He added limitations on this system mainly come from the video being unavailable or the screens not being synced, with the latter being an especially hazardous problem.
“Being synced is a big thing,” Tovar said. “If they are synced they are going exactly at the same time, but if they are not in sync, one of them may be a second off. A second is a difference between the speed of the pros, which is anywhere from a foot to a yard. Some of these guys could be almost two yards, and two yards is an eternity when we are trying to make that decision.”
Despite its flaws, VAR has been an important tool for referees evaluating plays that could be easily overlooked. Tovar stated VAR officials catch about 75% of the mistakes that would otherwise stand without video review.
Although it is true that VAR and other video assistant tools are not perfect, they are crucial to ensuring fairness during professional and collegaite soccer matches.
“Even with so many refs, you can’t see every angle or give the right call every time,” added Laguna. “That’s the only reason I would say why it could be useful: to make the right call.”
Feature image by Xochitl Lara