Is VAR worsening refereeing standards in the Premier League?

National World - LocalTV

Following another VAR and officiating controversy in the Premier League, Daniel Wales discovers how the technology could be impacting upon standards according to former PGMOL head and FIFA referee, Keith Hackett.

Transcript

00:00 A Liverpool goal wrongly ruled out for offside by VAR against Tottenham has sparked controversy.

00:07 Keith Hackett, former head of the PGMOL, told me about the decline in standards.

00:12 In your opinion, has VAR been a success or a failure?

00:16 I think at this moment in time, I think it's a bit of both, but mainly leading towards

00:23 failure, particularly when we consider this weekend.

00:27 When you say that the standards of the current referees in the PGMOL, do you think the standards

00:34 have dropped or do you think that this is the reason perhaps why we're seeing so many

00:38 controversies week in, week out?

00:40 If they have dropped, what's caused that?

00:43 I believe the standards have dropped and I think that was down to the management of Mike

00:50 Riley.

00:53 I left the scene, I retired to take up another role and we had 10 world-class referees, if

01:02 not more.

01:05 Outstanding referees and all I've witnessed is a decline in standards.

01:09 From a technical point of view, referees run in all directions thinking you're getting

01:13 more and more detached from play and if you're detached from play, then you're unable to

01:18 go through the process of a referee in decision-making, which is see, recognise, think and act.

01:27 If you don't see an incident, how can you get it right?

01:30 I think that what we've seen with VAR is we've seen the development of lazy refereeing.

01:39 I liken it to a tightrope walker.

01:43 You've got no net and you're walking across, it can be between two high-rise buildings,

01:52 you're going to watch every step and you're going to be very careful, you're going to

01:55 be focused.

01:56 But interestingly, if you had a net that you could fall into, your focus levels do drop.

02:02 If VAR and the technology is here to stay, as the PGOL like to make quite clear, they

02:07 don't want to get rid of it, what can be done to improve its use?

02:11 It needs to be very clear processes that are in place, very clear training.

02:20 You know, why are air traffic controllers good at their job?

02:28 Because they're focused, they're doing it day in, day out.

02:32 Why does the pilot, before he goes down the runway, does a checklist of his aircraft?

02:41 And this should be no different with VAR.

02:44 You know, the technology is pretty sound, apart from the comments that I've made regarding

02:51 the offside lines and the communication.

02:55 But the criteria of communicating it clearly is broken down this weekend to the point that

03:01 we've had a wrong decision.

03:03 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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