Reds game ‘showed value of VAR system’, says retired referee Strebre Delovski
Referee Alex King got every crucial VAR-influenced decision correct in Adelaide United’s A-League opener, says new Football Federation Australia referees adviser Strebre Delovski.
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The howler is almost dead thanks to video reviews, top match officials have declared, after VAR helped referee Alex King eliminate “clear and obvious errors” and “serious missed incidents” during the A-League season opener at Hindmarsh Stadium.
Retired referee Strebre Delovski said eliminating bad errors was part of bringing officials back into the soccer fold — repairing the damage caused 15 years ago, when Australian soccer bosses purposely disconnected match officials from the rest of the game.
Delovski, who is heading up a Football Federation Australia referees restructure, along with fellow former top official Peter Green and five-star assistant referee Mathew Cheeseman, said the Reds game showed the value of the VAR. He and Green were in Adelaide on Friday night, when the video assistant referee was involved in the game three times during Adelaide United’s 3-2 loss to Sydney FC.
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Adelaide’s Michael Jakobsen’s handball offence inside the box was the VAR’s first major involvement.
The technology also reviewed two off-side calls.
First, Reds teenage striker Al Hassan Toure’s goal counted, after he was deemed to have been on-side.
Sydney’s Kosta Barbarouses had his strike disallowed, though he was only off-side by the width of a “cigarette paper”, according to Fox Sports’ Simon Hill.
“The VAR was brought in to fix the howlers,’’ Delovski said. “His arm (Jakobsen) was away his body, which made his body unnaturally bigger. Under the new interpretation this ticks the box for a free kick.
“With offsides, whether it’s a millimetre or 10m, it’s black and white now.”
“And the match officials followed protocol in the off-side instances. They have been instructed if it’s close (off-side) to keep the flag down. This then allows VAR to review the incident if a goal is scored.”
Green said the referees restructure would encourage officials to interact with players and fans, rather than being kept separate before and after games.
“That’s a big focus for Streb (Delovski) and I, to get referees more involved in the match-day experience rather than we’re the guys that get yelled at for 90 minutes by the fans or be perceived to hide away in our rooms,’’ he said.
“It’s just going to take some time to build some relationships — it started last week with Streb visiting most of the clubs and the coaches and CEOs and we’ll continue to do that throughout the season.
“It’s a good night when you get decisions right but there will times where we make mistakes and we’ll put our hand up — it’s a better way for us to go.
“Refs are in the game because they love the game, they’ve got a passion (for) the game, they want to do well and succeed.”
And in a world first for soccer, television viewers were able to hear King talking to video assistant referee Kris Griffiths-Jones before making his decision.
🔊 In a world-first, viewers watching the Hyundai @ALeague season opener were able to listen to VAR audio on matchday.
— Hyundai A-League (@ALeague) October 11, 2019
Listen to the VAR process that saw @SydneyFC awarded a penalty for handball.
🎥 @FOXFOOTBALL #ALeague #ADLvSYD pic.twitter.com/eMjmDIiDxj
Originally published as Reds game ‘showed value of VAR system’, says retired referee Strebre Delovski