At the 2017 “Football Talks” conference in Lisbon, Pierluigi Collina, the head of the FIFA Referees Commission, stated there were “limits to how accurate human assistant referees could be”, even though, UEFA’s own research showed “that in the last few seasons of Champions League football, linesmen got around 95 percent of offside calls correct”. This is extremely accurate; however, in high stakes match the result can hinge on one decision. Therefore, it is important to...
At the 2017 “Football Talks” conference in Lisbon, Pierluigi Collina, the head of the FIFA Referees Commission, stated there were “limits to how accurate human assistant referees could be”, even though, UEFA’s own research showed “that in the last few seasons of Champions League football, linesmen got around 95 percent of offside calls correct”. This is extremely accurate; however, in high stakes match the result can hinge on one decision. Therefore, it is important to get every judgment correct.
Mistakes and football are practically synonymous. That doesn’t mean though, that football governing bodies should not try to reduce game-changing gaffes. The innovation and use of VAR are long overdue throughout all football games, though its implementation has not been without criticism. We still need to consider that ultimately, any ruling rests with the referee and therefore that decision may still be open to human error. VAR will only work with factual decisions, not subjective ones.
With VAR, we also need to consider the replays and camera angle that the VAR uses. Depending on the angle, some decisions will still be difficult to make. VAR officials have a wide range of monitors to scrutinize and reassess play; however, that initial perception frequently influences subsequent judgments. If you are sure you’ve made the correct decision, you will be ‘looking’ to find proof to back this up, rather than change your mind.
