football
Ex-referee criticizes VAR: “Apparent justice”
The video evidence continues to cause discussions in football. photo
© Andreas Gora/dpa
According to the former world-class referee Urs Meier, the use of video evidence is at the expense of the referee’s performance on the soccer field.
The use of the video evidence goes according to the former world-class referee Urs Meier at the expense of the referee’s performance on the soccer field.
“For me, the video evidence took away the referee’s competence and sovereignty,” says the 64-year-old of the German Press Agency. “We feel that we have more justice, but this is a sham justice.”
Meier officiated five consecutive semi-finals in the Champions League and the premier-league final in 2002. In his playing days, neither the VAR nor the goal-line technology he most wished for existed. “We referees and assistants could only hope that we wouldn’t experience a situation like this with the ball on or behind the line, because we knew that you just can’t see certain cases,” says the Swiss.
With the introduction of video evidence, many referees would rely too much on the television images, Meier believes. “A referee whistles, a referee directs and conducts a game. Unfortunately, we have too many referees and no more referees,” he says. “Football is a sport that thrives on the dynamics of fast play. The cup games in the second round are often fascinating games, since no VAR is used in these games and the referees suddenly have to make decisions again and lo and behold: They can do it , if the pressure is taken away from them by the Cologne basement.”