A-League spends $150,000 on the VAR technology causing uproar in the EPL
The $150,000 Hawkeye system used by the Premier League to judge offsides to a margin of millimetres will be introduced to the A-League this season.
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It’s the video technology causing uproar in the EPL … and it’s heading for the A-League.
The $150,000 Hawkeye system used by the Premier League to judge offsides to a margin of millimetres will be introduced to the A-League this season after all, with competition bosses deciding they can’t risk a repeat of Sydney FC’s disallowed goal in the grand final last season.
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But the computerised model — which creates a 3D image of an offside call for the VAR — is likely to cause more heated debate here after a succession of microscopic decisions in the Premier League that former England striker Gary Lineker has warned could “suck the life” out of the game.
Initially the Hawkeye technology was deemed too expensive for the A-League, despite a consensus that Sydney striker Adam Le Fondre’s disallowed goal in the grand final against Perth in May should have been awarded.
"I think Sadio Mane's fallen over and dived to win the penalty"#LFC #LCFC #LIVLEI #bbcfootball pic.twitter.com/ueS9C3j5F9
— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) October 5, 2019
In that game, VAR Kris Griffiths Jones was forced to make an offside judgment against Michael Zullo with his naked eye, without any form of line across the screen let alone the fully 3D view offered by Hawkeye.
But The Daily Telegraph has learned that one of the first acts of the newly independent A-League has been to invest $150,000 in the Hawkeye system, with the clubs briefed on its introduction a few days ago.
In the opening round of the Premier League in August, Manchester City were denied a goal after a lengthy stoppage when the VAR ruled that Raheem Sterling’s armpit had strayed offside in the build-up to Gabriel Jesus scoring against West Ham.
A VERY tight call ...
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) August 10, 2019
VAR disallowed Gabriel Jesus' goal after ruling that Raheem Sterling was offside. pic.twitter.com/lRAAmCRmRM
Since then a number of offside decisions reviewed by VAR have come down to millimetres, and former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy warned that “football is becoming obsessed by the pursuit of perfection through VAR, it’s unattainable and, in the meantime, they are killing the joy of our game”.
Two weeks ago Spurs had a goal ruled out for Son Heung-Min being judged offside by the VAR just as narrowly as Sterling was.
Critics have claimed that the stringent interpretation of the VAR rules around offside — that there is no margin for error, and a player is either offside or not — is based on a fallible methodology.
The VAR has to pause the video at the point closest to the ball being struck towards the player who might be offside, but it’s been claimed that in the 1/50th of a second between frames on HD vision, a player of Sterling’s pace could move up to 13cm.
The decision to cancel out Jesus’s goal against West Ham was based on the width of Sterling’s armpit — around 2.5cm — with referee Mike Dean seen mouthing “armpit” to players afterwards.
The Bundesliga has taken a similarly exact approach to VAR decisions on offsides, with Bayern Munich seeing a goal ruled out because striker Robert Lewandowski’s toe was judged to have crept beyond the last defender and so be deemed offside.
Originally published as A-League spends $150,000 on the VAR technology causing uproar in the EPL