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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
Sport
David Irvine

'Put it in the bin' - Ex-ref Bobby Madden backs calls to scrap VAR

Former top Scottish referee Bobby Madden has revealed he would back calls to scrap VAR.

The ex-whistler - who worked in Scotland and then in England - has admitted the technology is "not serving the game well".

And he went so far as to suggest he'd rather VAR - for which he was previously an advocate - was "put in the bin".

Speaking on BBC Sportsound, Madden was quizzed on his stance on the controversial decisions made by VAR and the overarching impact it has had in Scotland and across Europe since being introduced.

And the former official conceded VAR hasn't assisted the game in the manner he'd have hoped as he conceded he would support calls for its removal from the game.

Asked if he would side with calls to remove VAR, Madden explained:  "I would. I was an advocate for VAR but I think in its current form, and you see the challenges it is causing in Scottish football, English football and across European competitions I think it's not serving the game well and I would rather put it in the bin."

It comes after Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers admitted he would get rid of VAR if asked right now.

The Celtic boss said: "If you ask me right now I would get rid of it [VAR]. Absolutely but if there is money invested from the game which is supposed to make it better then you have to give that every chance.

"If you are asking me now I would just hope we can play our football and we know as humans evolve people will make mistakes and I would rather accept that than what we see at the moment."

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