From Leicester-Fleetwood to Mainz-Freiburg, VAR’s highs and lows so far

Three lows

Mainz v Freiburg, 16 Apr 2018

Sometimes, when VAR goes wrong, it feels like any given match could spiral into chaos. The latest, perhaps greatest, example came in the Bundesliga on Monday. With seconds left in the first half and the game scoreless, Mainz had a penalty appeal for handball turned down by the referee, Guido Winkmann. The players trooped off for their break only to be summoned back as VAR was not done with them. Winkmann had been told to check his decision and, after five minutes of deliberation, decided he would give a penalty after all. The players were called back from their revitalising drinks, Pablo de Blasis scored the spot-kick, and the players walked off again.

Tottenham v Rochdale, 28 Feb 2018

Trials of VAR in England have been such a mixed bag that last week Premier League clubs opted out of implementing the technology next season. This FA Cup replay might well have featured in their thinking. Spurs had a decent effort overturned by the technology and were then awarded a penalty that probably wasn’t. Both decisions also took an eternity to process, which was a little inconvenient for the crowd at Wembley, as the match was taking place in sub-zero temperatures and a tempest of snow.

England v Italy, 27 Mar 2018

Perhaps the incident which provoked the most heated chatter of all the trials, with fans and pundits getting to grips with the idea of a “clear error”. VAR is supposed to intercede only when the referee has made an obvious mistake but such was not the case at Wembley when Deniz Aytekin saw Federico Chiesa take a tumble in the box and called no foul. The VAR (who is a person as well as a technology) suggested the referee was wrong. Aytekin scrutinised the footage and deemed James Tarkowski had made some contact with the Italy forward, but it was hardly apparent at first glance. Italy scored the penalty, taking the edge off England’s performance and Gareth Southgate was almost impassioned by the outcome. “I prefer that the referee’s decision is final,” he said.

Three highs

Leicester City v Fleetwood Town 16 Jan 2018

Statistics show VAR gets decisions right (it just might take some time). This was the case with the first goal it awarded in English football. Leicester were 1-0 up against Fleetwood by the time Kelechi Iheanacho tucked home a Riyad Mahrez pass in the 77th minute of their FA Cup third round replay. He was initially adjudged to be offside but VAR checks all goals scored and found, actually, he was onside thanks to the defender Nathan Pond’s foot. A bright technological future seemed imminent.

Cameroon v Chile, 18 Jun 2017

The trials of VAR (ie the testing, not the emotional turmoil) have taken place across the world for the past 18 months. One early test came in a group game in Moscow at last summer’s Confederations Cup. Chile’s Eduardo Vargas was left frustrated on the stroke of half-time after his first-time finish was retrospectively ruled out for a marginal offside. Forty-five minutes later the technology put Vargas on the scoresheet; it overruled an offside decision against Alexis Sánchez, whose parried effort Vargas had turned into the Cameroon net. What VAR taketh away, it can also giveth.

Aves v Boavista, 6 Feb 2018

With Europe’s major leagues (bar the English one) adopting VAR for next season, the technology is here to stay. A reminder it is neither all-powerful nor infallible came in a Portuguese league match two months ago. Relegation-threatened Ave were 2-0 up when Vítor Gomes poked home after a free-kick, but VAR was consulted owing to a suspicion he may have been offside. Unfortunately for the officials any consultation proved inconclusive as a large Boavista flag was obscuring the cameras. Next season VAR footage is to be broadcast at the end of top-flight matches in Portugal, in this case the footballing equivalent of a blooper reel.