OFFSET YOUR WORLD CUP TRAVEL WITH GREENERTRAVEL
Date: 13th August 2024
Last weekend I was at Rugby Park to watch Kilmarnock vs St Johnstone. Saints won comfortably, but late in the second half there was an incident where the Killie winger appeared to be fouled right at the edge of the box. Many fans thought it was a penalty, but the ref booked the player (Danny Armstrong) and awarded a free kick to St Johnstone. VAR reviewed the incident and decided that there was indeed a foul, but that it was outside the box. Fair enough, but you would then have thought that if VAR is supposed to be helping us get things right then Kilmarnock would have been given a free kick and the yellow card rescinded. However, that’s not what the laws allow, so Saints had the free kick and Armstrong kept his, totally undeserved, yellow card. VAR has not gone away…
At the end of last season, with VAR having caused a lot of controversy throughout the campaign – as well as being banned in Sweden, we ran a quick survey to ask fans if they think it is time for a proper review of its use in Scotland. Just under 1,000 people took part (976). The results were overwhelming in favour. The question asked was:
“Do you agree that the Scottish Football Authorities should work with ALL stakeholders, principally the fans who are the lifeblood of the game, and under an independent, external chair, to conduct a comprehensive review of the way VAR has worked so far in Scotland, with nothing off the table, including extending VAR into new areas or scrapping VAR until it works properly in the view of the majority of stakeholders?”
The result was unanimously in favour of such a review, with 88% agreeing with the question:
So far this season, it appears that (hopefully as the result of action by Willie Collum, the new Head of Refereeing), referees are acting more sensibly in relation to the handball law and also that decisions are being made more quickly. That said, our previous survey of lower division clubs showed that the majority of fans simply prefer football without VAR. As we’ve written previously, the authorities and the media will always support VAR, for their own reasons. I am not opposed to its use, so long as the technology is in place to allow for virtually instant decisions. That isn’t the case just now, so VAR will continue to suck the joy out of the game in the new season. And with entry prices for the Premiership increasing this year, that means more people wondering why they are shelling out their hard-earned money, hoping to be lost in that moment when a goal is scored, only to slump down and wait for a VAR review. This is yet another instance of those who run the football industry refusing to listen to their customers….
Alastair Blair, Director of Operations, SFSA
Posted in: Latest News
Tags: #VAR