VAR, er ... Instant Replay, Is here

More than eight years ago - on March 10, 2010 to be exact, I wrote here  that it was good that instant replay would not be used in soccer. Would slow down the game, I said.

Well, instant replay, known as VAR for video-assistant-referee, is here as reported in today's New York Times. Although the English Premier League and UEFA which runs the Champions League, have not used VAR, it is at the World Cup in Russia. And Christopher Clarey writes in the Times article, "There will be bumps, maybe even an occasional accident, but the use of replay in critical situations, which is what V.A.R. is to be limited to, is still the best chance to make the World Cup and the sport a fairer proposition."

Clarey says that a study by Italy's Serie A showed that compared to the previous season, referee errors dropped from 5.78 percent of decisions to less than 1 percent. Expulsions were down 7.1 percent. And on a particularly encouraging note, simulation, also known as diving, was down 35.3 percent.  Meanwhile, the amount of time when the ball was actually in play during a 90-minute game increased by an average of 43 seconds to just over 51 minutes. 

The article recognizes the argument against replay: that unlike sports such as baseball and American football, there are not natural stoppages and that to hold up a game for replay would disrupt the flow of play, one of the sport's attractions.  I agree.  The counter to that is that there are indeed stoppages for throw-ins, corner kicks, injuries, substitutions and arguing with referees.  Generally none of these take as long as the replay review.

What is interesting is that under VAR the referee on the field makes the replay call, that is has the right to overrule himself. as happened in yesterday's France-Australia match in the World Cup in which the referee aid he had missed a foul in the box and awarded France a penalty kick, which proved to be the decisive in a 2-1 win.

I'm still not convinced that VAR is good for the game, but as Clarey writes, There is no going back now. In a world where fans are already reviewing every big decision on their screens, referees deserve the best possible chance to get their decisions right."

Technology Comes to Soccer

As reported in the New York Times and elsewhere last week, international soccer will be using modern technology to determine whether a ball has entirely crossed the goalline.  Although I have been against instant reply in soccer because it would disrupt the flow of the game, this move sounds like a positive step.  It certainly would have eliminated the controversy in the 1966 World Cup final between Germany and England, not to mention the 2008 U18 New Jersey State Cup quarterfinal.

There are two systems, Hawk-Eye and the less expensive GoalRef, which could be in place for the upcoming English Premier League season.  Most certainly electronics will be used in the 2014 World Cup.  Don't expect to see it at your local high school stadium any time soon, however.  The systems will cost an estimated $200,000 per stadium.

At this instant, no replay in soccer

Instant replay is not happening in soccer. Good.

A Reuters article in today's NY Times reports that the International Football Association Board (IFAB) rejected the use of goalline and video technology to assist referees. Said FIFA General Secretary Jérôme Valcke, “It’s an end to the potential use of technology within football.”
FIFA made the right call.

Even if it were limited to decisions involving whether a goal had been scored, instant replay would alter the nature of the game by breaking up the flow of play while officials looked at video. If a goalkeeper made a save on the line and the attacking team claimed the ball had crossed the line, would play then be stopped for a video review, thus depriving the keeper of the opportunity to punt or throw the ball? And forget it on other plays, such as a hand ball. (The non-call of an apparent hand ball by France's Thierry Henry on a scoring play against Ireland in a World Cup qualifier renewed calls for use of video technology.) Even if a replay could show that a ball touched a player's hand, how could it determine intent.

Soccer rule changes over the years have tended to speed up the game. For example forbidding a keeper's use of hands on a passback from a teammate cut down on delaying tactics. Instant relay would have the opposite effect and would slow down the game.