Kian Gadsby
Since its introduction at the 2017 Confederations Cup, Video Assistant Referee (VAR) has been controversial in the football world. Fans have complained about accuracy and the time it takes to make decisions, with the technology being so controversial in Norway that their football clubs recently voted to stop it’s use, although the football federation overruled them.
In the FA Cup recently, Bournemouth had a goal disallowed after an 8-minute VAR check to make the decision. Delays like this disrupt the flow of the game, leave fans in the dark and call into question the point of such technology. However, other sports use technology successfully, which begs the question of can football learn how to apply VAR from other sports?
Sports which use technology can largely be broken down into 3 categories. Some sports, such as Cricket and American Football, have large quantities of stoppages between play, giving officials sufficient time to make checks on decisions without disrupting the flow of the game. There are then sports that only make use of objective decisions, for example a ball landing in or out, like in Tennis and Volleyball. These decisions can be made simply using the right technology. Finally, we have sports like Football and Rugby, which have some decisions like fouls that can be subject to the referee’s opinion, without them having a long time to make a call.
If you are unfamiliar with the technological systems sports use, here is a brief rundown of some of the major differences between usage across sports.
Football
VAR was introduced in 2017 and was first added to the Premier League for the 2019/20 season. It is currently used in most top leagues worldwide, as well as the Champions League and other UEFA and FIFA competitions, but it is not used in the Championship or any leagues below it in England.
When in use, VAR can only be used in 4 different types of circumstances, checking for penalties, red cards, goals or mistaken identity. The technology is only allowed to be used to overturn clear and obvious errors, and the decision is meant to be final with the referee.
Cricket
Cricket is a sport with a lot of breaks between balls but also has many decisions that are objective rather than subject to discretion. This is because decisions such as runouts and catches depend on batters’ position and contact with the bat respectively.
As such, the cricket system works very differently to football. The on-field umpires make decisions, but they also have the power to “send it upstairs” to the Third Umpire, who has different camera angles and ultra edge technology to check what happened and offer advice.
If the players disagree with the decision of the on-field umpires, the captains can review a decision made. Each team gets a set number of reviews, usually two per innings, and they can challenge major decisions. If the technology used shows they were correct, the decision is overturned, and they retain the challenge, but it is lost if they are not. This system prevents captains from requesting a challenge for every call.
Cricket can be a stop-start sport anyway due to the time taken to reset positions between each ball, but this system keeps the game flowing and ensures decisions remain quick and accurate.
Perhaps the major learning point for football from cricket’s use of technology is that the on-field umpire’s decision still matters. Because LBW is often difficult to predict if the ball would have dislodged the bails, if it is subjective the decision of the on-field umpire remains, and the team doesn’t lose their challenge.
The decision-making process is shown on screen in the stadium, with the communication between the umpires audible for the spectators. This means that fans understand the decisions made, rather than being left without explanation.
Rugby Union
Rugby Union is perhaps the sport that currently uses technology the most like football does with its Television Match Official (TMO) system. The TMO system has been in place longer than VAR, since the World Cup in 2015, and is used to check potential tries and possible foul play. This is done automatically by the officials without the request of the teams.
To keep the momentum of the game, some foul play incidences are reviewed by a Foul Play Review Officer (FPRO). Yellow carded players are sinbinned in Rugby Union, meaning the FPRO can decided whether the player’s conduct warrants a yellow or red card whilst they are off the pitch, reducing the disruption to the game.
TMO decisions are displayed on the big screen, exactly like cricket does. As well as making sure fans are informed, that has the benefit of enabling the on-field referee to make a quick decision on some calls, without needing to communicate with the TMO or go to the screen.
As calls are subjective, Rugby Union suffers from the same issue as football as defining a clear and obvious error. The time spent reviewing decisions has decreased dramatically over time, and the technology is now used increasingly effectively. This means that over the years since it’s inception, the TMO has become more popular amongst supporters.
Rugby League
Rugby League operates like Rugby Union but with one change. This year, the Super League has changed its rules regarding technology, as this year captains can challenge decisions made by the referees. In a fashion that is very similar to cricket, each captain gets one incorrect challenge per match.
Although we are too early into the season to predict the influence this will have on the sport, it could certainly be something to keep an eye on. If the system is deemed a success, perhaps it could be seen in football sooner rather than later.
Tennis
Tennis is different, as all the calls made are objective as the ball can only land in or out with no dispute over which it is. This makes determining the accuracy of a decision relatively easy, and a technology called Hawkeye is used to determine the landing place of the ball.
Depending on the tournament, each player will receive 2 or 3 challenges per set, which they can use to dispute a call made by the line judge. Like cricket, if the player is correct, they do not lose the challenge.
The technology used in Tennis is like the goal-line technology system in football. That system has largely been popular with supporters due to its speed and accuracy. However, this system will not be relevant for debatable calls like fouls.
What Can Football Actually Learn?
Compared to other sports, football’s technology usage is relatively new. This difference means other sports show us that VAR will naturally improve over time as referees and players become more accustomed to it.
Indeed, the quality of refereeing has improved since VAR’s inception. The Premier League say that 96% of decisions given in matches are correct, up from 82% before VAR was introduced.
Of course, there are ways for VAR to become more popular with supporters. Communication with fans is something that other sports show can be improved, and putting decisions on the big screen and broadcasting referee’s audio would ensure everyone had complete clarity of the explanation for the decision.
Football also needs to prioritise reducing the time it takes to make decisions. Introducing automated offsides will help with this process, if it works, as was the issue in Bournemouth vs Wolves in the FA Cup, but sometimes VAR spends a long time on decisions that are not clear and obvious. Perhaps introducing some form of captain’s challenge review system would encourage teams to only challenge obvious mistakes, reducing the amount of time spent reviewing debatable decisions.
In all, there is a lot that football can learn from other sports to enhance its use of technology. The key lesson though is that the system takes time. VAR had made 13 mistakes in the Premier League this season after 23 rounds of matches, which is an improvement on the 20 made last season. The system will improve, regardless of which changes the authorities make, and it will eventually be more effective.
Kian Gadsby
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In article image 1 courtesy of @fa_pgmol via Instagram. No changes were made to this image.
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In article image 3 courtesy of @sixnationsrugby via Instagram. No changes were made to this image.
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