NBTTT #2: VAR, studio vs ref and the future

VAR is great technology but as said down there vvv a good implementation is when it clarifies controversial or difficult decisions WITHOUT taking far too long to process.

One way you could do it is to have certain events which are automatically reviewed - goals, penalties, automatic red cards for example. They should already be reviewed by the studio starting immediately whether the ref asks for it or not. This saves a s**t load of time. Then they can just tip off the official if they see something which needs to be reviewed, and then he can go to the sideline to check the film.

Some notes from the NFL where they've been doing it for years:

Good practice:

Since this year a bloke runs on the field with a tablet in a box (which looks really stupid, but allows the official to watch the replay without having to spend the time coming off the field). This saves time.

As above where all scores and other key events are automatically reviewed "upstairs" (actually a studio in New York) and the officials tipped off if they see something that should be looked at.

Medical teams ALSO have a video feed and have the ability to have the official stop the game if they see something that suggests a player needs to be looked at (most commonly signs of a concussion).

Bad practice:

The growth of reviewing absolutely f**king everything. It has got worse this year. They are reviewing it to death. I think yesterday's Liverpool game was an example of the FA jumping to this phase very quickly.

The thing we haven't seen yet but WILL happen. Now that they have the time and the ability to review what will happen is that, like the NFL, it will expose unclear definitions. In the NFL the examples have been "what actually is a catch", "what is pass interference" etc. In football it is going to be "what is a foul", "what is a tackle", "what is intentional handball" and so on. What's happening in the NFL is that they have been trying to clarify these things and the result is soooo complicated that it is ridiculous. It's got to the point at which this year games have been lost by teams after they have scored what would have been a clear touchdown in any of the preceding 40 years yet instead they've given the ball to the other team because the ball "started to move" before a certain part of the body was down by contact. Then they start delving into what contact actually is, or what down actually means.

If we let it go that far you end up with the same controversies before video review came in, just shifting them to different tiny details within one particular action and that can take for ever. NFL commentators are traditionally very very respectful to officials and the rules but this season even they are getting exasperated with it.

Posted By: Steve in Holland, Jan 28, 12:24:21