In the midst of referee turmoil over the VAR "a diabolical system that puts us in a bad light", the South American Confederation has announced that it will introduce video refereeing in its top continental competition, the Copa Libertadores.
The epicenter of the revolution is precisely in South America. Veteran Argentine referee Néstor Pitana suffered "Hey, you're really bad!" from Cristiano after disallowing a goal for Portugal via the VAR. That play unleashed criticism from his colleagues, especially from former international referee Castrilli. But there were not only protests in their country, not even in their continent. Mark Halsey, former Premier League referee, used social media to express his discontent: "The VAR is chaos. What the hell are they doing with football?".
FIFA is aware of the referees' reservations, but nevertheless, CONMEBOL is willing to implement VAR starting from the quarterfinals of the Copa Libertadores and the Sudamericana Cups. FIFA President Gianni Infantino is determined to have the World Cup in Russia played with VAR. And the heads of referees, Collina and Busacca, are on board. "This will improve", Collina repeats to everyone who asks him. "We have already tested VAR in seventy-five matches, which is not a lot yet, and the feedback is positive. They say that many referees are against it, but I receive messages telling me that it is a great help to know that they have thirty cameras at their disposal to prevent major games from going down in history due to their mistake."
At the core of the disagreements, rather than the use of VAR, is the indiscriminate use of VAR. "If we strictly adhere to the four situations for which VAR was approved, it would pass, but the problem is that the invention has gotten out of hand and now everything is subject to video analysis," summarize the referees. "The fewer mistakes, the more justice," Busacca replies.
The VAR, which still needs to be reviewed by the International Board, will make the leap from the Confederations Cup to the Copa Libertadores. It will also be tested in the Australian league. And according to Infantino, Serie A (which is controlled by Collina at the refereeing level) and the Bundesliga will also adopt it. It won't catch on in Spain. Villar gets hives from VAR.
"If it wags its tail and barks, it's a dog, and if it's a kick inside the penalty area, it's a penalty"
The media-friendly Argentine former international referee Javier Castrilli has strongly criticized VAR. "If it has four legs, wags its tail and barks, then if it's a kick inside the penalty area, it's a penalty," he said in reference to the stomp by Fonte (Portugal) on Silva (Chile) that VAR missed. Castrilli took to his Twitter account to publish a series of criticisms against FIFA and video refereeing, and said that "the best thing is for the VAR operator to be Loretta Lynch," the former U.S. prosecutor who has put Blatter's FIFA leadership on trial for corruption.
The four situations of VAR
THE GOAL: it's not only about the goal line. One of the functions of VAR is, according to FIFA, "to assist the referee in determining whether any infringement that prevents a goal from being awarded has occurred." At first, it was thought that VAR could not correct offside because it is not listed among its four competencies (goals, penalties, red cards, and mistaken identity), but it is enabled to reverse any illegal action that may have influenced a goal.
THE PENALTY: the problem is interpretation. The VAR must "guarantee that erroneous decisions regarding the signaling (or not) of a penalty are not made." However, this measure is rejected by referees, who believe that area plays are subject to interpretation. "A real-time action is not the same as what may appear in slow motion or super slow motion. Sometimes a penalty is clear or less clear depending on the eyes of the one analyzing it," the referees say.
RED CARD: clashes with the regulations. The VAR prevents erroneous decisions regarding a player's expulsion, says the Video Assistant Referee regulations. But this is not always the case. Jara's elbow on Werner in the Confederations Cup final demonstrated the opposite: that VAR can also be used to settle with a yellow card what the Regulations say should be a straight red card: elbowing an opponent. But referees also assert their interpretation here.
MISTAKEN IDENTITY: and the fourth official?. "If a referee does not caution or expel the player who should be, or it is not clear which player should be punished for breaking the Regulations, the VAR can inform and clearly point out the offender," says the VAR Regulations. But referees argue that, for these incidents, there are already assistant referees and the fourth official, and that VAR would only be used for exceptional situations.