Coombs wrote:
Refs are incompetent. That's the main problem with VAR, and with refereeing in general. VAR was never going to change the fact that refs aren't good at their jobs, now they're just not good a using VAR.
At least offside calls are generally made properly now. I really do not understand what the hell takes them so long, though.
I think they need to do like in ice hockey and have another, technical referee who can make the VAR call. It's not realistic to have the head referee personally watch every dubious rerun.
Agree about the refs coming up short. We're going to have to wait for a new generation of referees and players who grow up in a VAR environment before we see any real results from video technology I think. It's worth pointing out that it is the game itself that needs to adjust to the technology though, much more than the other way around.
Football's been a complete embarrassment for decades as far as refereeing is concerned. It's the only sport I follow that seems to value being unsporting and unfair by refusing officiates the proper tools to enforce the rules. We have a bunch of old FIFA prats to thank for that; they've held this development back for as long as they possibly could. Most of them will be dead within the next 5-10 years, thank goodness, but the damage they've done is probably going to last throughout the next decade too while the sport tries to readjust. Modern football has been built on a fundamental disregard for the rules.
I get why video refereeing gets a bad rap in a summer tournament like this. Goals are fun so it's expected that people will groan when Brazil get three of them disallowed in the same game, but then again it's not like the calls were made unfairly. Firminho did mess up all three goals because he's got shit for brains. People should blame him instead of VAR.
