A perfect slot to fill in the gaps of incorrect, unclear or indecisive goal moments. Since its official idea was conceived back at the end of the first decade of this century, there have been a lot of controversial moments of the game of football which left many fanatics of the game with a lot of concerns.
Looking at the most common case, dating back to the first of its own 2010 world cup in the African soil, England’s Frankie lampard shot against Germany that hit the cross bar and dropped in but was never counted .
Of course we can never forget “the hand of god goal “in the 1986 world cup when Diego Maradona scored against England and so many other moments on the records.
The introduction of the VAR has however brought a massive revolution and a sort of salvation to all teams against any form of incorrect decision. First tested in 2016 in a friendly match of two Netherlands clubs, PSV and FC Eindhoven, the success has so far been a great technological achievement to the sport. Following extensive trialing in a number of major competitions, VAR was first written into the laws of the game by the international football board (IFAB) in 2018.
The VAR plays four major categories of decision making which prompt the center referee to go for review.
This categories includes goal/no goal a situation where an attacking player commits an offence, the ball is out of play, ball crossing the goal line, offside, handball encroachment during penalty kicks. in this situation the referee may be signaled to go for the check and make a decision on whether the goal stands or will not
The VAR also provide a chance of the center referee for reviews in making decisions on penalties or no penalties situations. This includes the location of the offensive tackles made by defending teams, incorrect awarding of penalties by the onside referee which could be overturned by the VAR as well as offences which can go un-penalized.
We could also see the VAR in action on direct red cards which may be in situations such as denial of goal scoring opportunities (dogso), serious foul play, violent conduct which include biting, spiting, using offensive/insulting /abusive language or gestures that demean or provoke anyone. All straight red cards are however subject to go under review.
The last situation when VAR is in action is when there is a mistaken identity in awarding a red card or yellow card. A perfect example is when arsenals Kieran Gibbs was mistakenly booked by Andre Marriner in a 6-0 defeat by the then league leaders Chelsea fc. A penalty was awarded after Alex Oxlade chamberlain tipped Eden Hazards shot around a post with his hand but Gibbs was shown the red card.
The football governing body in the world FIFA has now been at rest with this major accomplishment and has proven to be on the frontline in embracing technology as part of the system that make the beautiful game of football draw into a more and close to accurate decision making that fulfills the satisfaction of all regardless of the results at the end of the game.
Africa could be back in ages it did not the move with the world in taking the steps of intensifying the use of VAR in the local leagues. Only some few African countries have not fully moved into the VAR animated technology.
Generally the video assistant referee is a revolution that has replaced broken hearts with claims of incorrect decisions and ruling with hopes of golden clean and fair game. We can now say goodbye to obvious errors and welcome justice in the game. Who knows maybe the onside referees could be replaced with the referee robots in the future.
Image: Carlos Figueroa, CC BY-SA 4.0
