Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has voiced his displeasure with the implementation of VAR, saying he thinks it should be scrapped altogether.
After a 6-0 loss against Atletico Madrid, the Irishman has finally let out his wrath after voicing his fear that the sport was becoming like a ‘computer game’ only days before.
His remarks followed the controversy over the decision to send off Daizen Maeda in the UEFA Champions League for a challenge on Mario Hermoso, for which the player was first shown a yellow card.
Since the player was injured in the attack, he will be on the sidelines for the next six weeks.
The goal of implementing VAR was to reduce the number of contentious calls made by officials.
However, some would argue that it has just made things more complicated. It seems to be a problem in all arenas where such technology is being used.
Many in the soccer community, including the former Premier League coach, are becoming frustrated with the VAR system and the manner in which match officials are utilizing it. It has seriously impeded, if not already destroyed, our favorite game, Rodgers says.
“When it first came out, I was always in favor of something that was for the greater good of the game or if something helps that or makes it better as a spectacle for supporters, then brilliant. I felt for the Celtic supporters the other night.
“They have paid hundreds of pounds to travel over to Madrid and you are stuck up in the sky watching the game. You have had a good day in Madrid and you go to the game and after 20-odd minutes one of your players is sent off and that spoils the game. It just absolutely spoils the game. I think we are now starting to see it a bit more, I was always cautious in it all to see how the technology worked.
“The technology is fine but the implementation of it is what we are talking about now. The more I see it, I watched the game back and I saw Marcus Rashford being sent off for Manchester United which was never a sending-off. When he goes to plant his foot, the young guy’s foot wasn’t there initially and then it’s there. He gets sent off and that changes the course of the game.
“I certainly see it a lot more often now and I think that the waiting about, the hanging about, I said after the game the other night, it feels like it is more like a computer game now. Everything is being assessed on a screen. That’s not football. It is not football. I think if it continues that way, then of course, it would have to be looked at because from a players’ and supporters’ perspective and a general football perspective that is not the game we know and not the game we love.”
The 50-year-old believes that, at the moment, VAR is yielding more negative outcomes than positive ones.
“I have spoken to people down in the Championship in England where there is no VAR and they tend to quite enjoy it. They understand there are going to be some mistakes but the fluency of the game, the fluidity of it all, feels removed from the constant looking at screens and just by our conversation it is not something that should be getting talked about as much as it is.
“I think there is a high percentage of it which is really good. A lot of it has certainly helped the game but I think now it is getting beyond the referee. There is no doubt it is being refereed outside of the field rather than inside of the field. If you look at the referee the other night, he was close to the action and he gave a yellow card.
“Okay, but somehow, he gets told to look at the screen. He comes to the screen and what is presented in front of him is Daizen’s foot up. That was not a true reflection of the actual challenge at all. I think there is probably a lot of it that is good but the bad in it is very bad. That is something that would have to be looked at and whether it is worth it or not.”
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