The roll-out of VAR in Scottish football hasn’t been without bumps with a section of fans and managers crying foul already.
But Hugh Dallas insists the technology’s introduction to the Premiership has been a success - and he says it’ll get even smoother with the passage of time. Reviewing the first two weeks of the system with Record Sport last night, the former top Scots ref told critics that stats show the technology has reduced the number of big refereeing gaffes in VAR using nations from HUNDREDS to TEENS in just one season.
And he’s confident Scotland will enjoy the same positive impact, despite teething problems leading to early criticism. Hearts boss Robbie Neilson raised fears the system was taking the responsibility for making decisions away from on-field referees after his side were awarded two penalties against Celtic - the first by VAR and the second after a review. Hoops boss Ange Postecoglou also took a pop at the “theatre” surrounding the decision making process in particular the time spent standing about waiting for a decision.
There’s been criticism too that refs have turned to VAR for what appears to be stonewall decisions. But Dallas - UEFA’s head of referee education - reckons the Scots officials deserve praise for their handling of the new system.
The 65-year-old was in London yesterday showing a delegation of Turkish officials how the system works in England. And he said: “It’s a brand new project at an embryonic stage and the guys have done well.
“It’s not perfect but the system’s not perfect. As soon as you have subjective decisions you will have opinion which will split a room as we saw in the last two matchdays.
“But overall I think the guys can be happy with the start. It’s going to increase the accuracy of decision making.
“I came out of a meeting on Monday and what was reported was that when you look back at the number of errors that were made (across the board in VAR using countries) the season before VAR was introduced it was in the hundreds. When you compare that with the number of mistakes in one season with VAR in place then that number is in the teens.
“That’s got to be a positive. I fully accept that people are concerned that it interrupts the flow of the game and the official has to go across and players are standing about. But the more the refs get used to the system then I’m sure these decisions will be made quicker and we’ll start to see any problems flatten out as we go along.”
Twelve top flight games have now been completed with VAR in place. Video assistants have been directly involved in a number of key decisions already.
Those include the Hearts penalty award against Celtic - which led to a lengthy delay on the park as Steven McLean deliberated over who touched the ball first in a clash between Cameron Carter-Vickers and Cammy Devlin - and Livingston’s Morgan Boyes having a yellow card upgraded to a red against Rangers on matchday one. Last weekend saw Dundee United striker Tony Watt sent off after a VAR intervention - having not even been penalised for the challenge on Motherwell’s Sean Goss at the time of the incident - while St Johnstone defender James Brown had a red card downgraded to a yellow after review.
Dallas refused to comment on specific incidents. But he’s confident the technology will help refs make the right decision in the vast majority of cases.
He said: “What referees are taught to do is ref the match normally. VAR is an insurance policy to rectify any problems and we have seen that already.
“There was quite a lengthy VAR review on the first matchday because they were unsure who had touched the ball first. They had to go to different angles to get the point of contact and again they will realise it maybe takes a bit too long.
“But that’s happened everywhere whether it’s been in the Premier League or at UEFA level. It just takes time for the VAR to get used to it.
“It takes time for the Hawkeye operator to supply the VAR with the correct angles and pictures before they start to bring the ref across for the on field review. There’s a lot of work goes in. It’s not as simple as it looks on TV
“Overall it’s better than what we’ve had. But it’ll always be subjective and down to a referee’s opinion. It will not stop the debate and it certainly hasn’t.”
That’s certainly been the case after a flurry of handball incidents. Celtic were furious Hearts defender Michael Smith wasn’t penalised when James Forrest’s flick came off his hand at Tynecastle. The Hoops were awarded a spot kick by VAR when Jota’s cross deflected off Andrew Shinnie hand on Sunday though.
Hibs also won a penalty after a video review when Chris Cadden’s shot deflected off St Mirren defender Richard Tait’s arm.
Dallas said: “The handball rule is the one law that’s always going to be controversial. They’ve tried to make it easier for instance with the rule about the arm being above shoulder level, the arm being out from the body and even if the ball deflects up off the body and the arm has made the body bigger then it’s a handball.
“Again it’s all subjective. However I’m not sure any player deliberately aims for the arm. If they are then it’s up to the ref to determine whether the handball is deliberate is the arm is in an unnatural position or above shoulder level.”
READ NEXT
