Gary Lineker’s VAR warning rings true in A-League opener
Fans left frustrated by how long VAR takes to review decisions have been left with the conundrum — do you want the calls quickly or do you want them right?
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THE warning from England legend Gary Lineker that the VAR could “suck the life” out of the game is ringing true in the A-League.
Coaches, players and fans are blowing up over the amount of time the VAR is taking to make decisions.
Round one gave fans a glimpse into the frustration felt by English Premier League supporters around the way the technology has interrupted the flow of the game and how the newly implemented Hawkeye system has taken offside calls to a microscopic level.
A-League referees adviser Strebre Delovski has defended lengthy VAR delays, arguing decisions can’t be rushed when there’s “no margin for error”.
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Delovski empathised with the frustrations but said the VAR’s main priority was to get decisions right.
“It takes some time to review and it takes some time to get the line (offside) up,” Delovski said.
“It’s impossible to get the camera angles from the operator straight up. We’ll look at all the camera angles available before making the decision. It would be great if we could do it in five seconds — and I understand people want the game to flow — but ultimately we’ve made the correct decisions.
“Sometimes you have to look at it a couple of times to be 100 per cent sure the decision is wrong.
“We don’t want to rush something just for the sake of time. There’s no margin for error, we’ve got to be spot-on.”
An online poll by The Daily Telegraph showed 84 per cent of readers thought the VAR was taking too long to make calls.
The VAR made three interventions in Sydney FC’s season-opening 3-2 win over Adelaide United on Friday night, and made the correct decision all three times.
The irritation from players, coaches and viewers came mainly through the length of time it took for a review.
Play continued for almost a minute after Michael Jakobsen’s handball for Adelaide inside the penalty area before referee Alex King finally stopped proceedings to review footage on the recommendation of VAR Kris Griffiths-Jones.
He subsequently awarded Sydney a penalty.
It also took one minute and 16 seconds for Kosta Barbarouses’s goal to be overturned for Sydney when Hawkeye ruled he was offside.
New Adelaide United coach Gertjan Verbeek said the system was taking a “crazy” amount of time to settle contentious calls.
Verbeek said he had always been pro-VAR.
“But it’s getting more and more a huge impact in the game,” he said.
“Five minutes ... to watch if it’s a penalty or not — it’s crazy.”
Sydney FC coach Steve Corica agreed with his Adelaide counterpart on the time factor.
“It is taking probably a little bit too long,” Corica said.
“But they obviously want to make sure they get the right decisions.”
On Saturday, Western Sydney and Central Coast continued playing for even longer before Iranian referee Alireza Faghani halted the game to review a possible handball from Dylan Fox.
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He awarded a penalty — and a subsequent 2-1 winner — to the Wanderers, though not until three minutes after the incident.
“It took a long time,” Wanderers coach Markus Babbel said.
“I think it was handball. I saw it on the big screen. For me, it was clear it was a penalty.”
The quest for perfection at the expense of spontaneity has polarised the international game, prompting concerns from the likes of Lineker.
A-League boss Greg O’Rourke said he was happy with Hawkeye’s rollout, and expected the VAR process to quicken over time.