Question Number: 35134

Mechanics 10/2/2023

RE: Competitive Adult

Peter Babbage of Hjorring , Denmark asks...

Regarding the VAR fiasco in the Liverpool game, if the Spurs players took the free kick for offside quickly could the VAR people have still contacted the ref and say no it was a goal.

Answer provided by Referee Richard Dawson

HI Peter,
pretty sad that, given the entire reasoning for VAR is to ensure that does not occur. Honestly if the referee and AR on the field have claimed offside and flagged it as such there should be radio traffic between the CR and Var? If the VAR has not weighed in hey guys check this out the trail leg kept him onside good goal versus allowing the INDFK restart technically the game is marred by a bad decision, most likely created by misunderstanding something. in the exchange of information.

If there is miscommunication as in there was no time to relay information, that the referee did not weigh in on, one might make a case. But if agreement was reached, you do not get to change a decision, AFTER a restart. Given this was simply an oops, I prefer to think that we could correct it if something technical went wrong in the viewing room rather than just a lapse in judgement as it was a blunder to take away the goal at a pivotal moment in the game. According to sources the VAR thought the kick off was going to be the restart not the INDFK for offside. And given the VAR did not say, "Hey come here and look, it is a good goal" , both groups thought the other was in agreement.

The AR apparently flagged AFTER the goal which was a signal to the VAR that he felt there might be offside , as we only raise when 100% sure in real time
If as AR we suspect offside in grassroots, we stand at attention and do not give a nod or thumbs up when the Referee looks over and sees we have not returned to kick off position which we do if we are happy with the goal. By staying in the doubtful position by the goal line we are indicating a chat is required and if the CR And AR confer and come to a conclusion offside was relevant the flag goes up we indicate the offside location or if no offside ,we go kick off and resume our respective restart positions.

Going down to 10 men then 9 certainly exasperated Liverpool although they had little to complain about the one red. The double yellow especially as VAR was responsible for getting a 2nd look there must bug Liverpool their goal was not awarded but to be fair there were plenty of player errors on the pitch not just a missed officiating call.
Cheers

Answer provided by Referee Joe McHugh

Hi Peter
In real time the AR thought it was offside based on body positions. He correctly kept the flag down until after the goal was scored and then the flag was raised. The AR understood that the offside would have been checked and then VAR said check complete which allowed for a restart. VAR thought that the officials were going with a kick off and then as play had restarted there was no going back.

The VAR protocol is that play should not be allowed to restart until the check is complete. The issue here was poor communication and a lack of understanding as to what was awarded. I think the wording has to be tidied up as anyone knows radio communication knows how important it is to state the obvious such as * You may award the Goal* or *You may disallow the goal and restart with an IDFK*. In a VAR room I have no doubt the VAR officials are watching the incident under review which loses their focus on the game.
Listen to VAR communication it is at times way too much chatter and probably limited chatter when it is needs to be otherwise. Also not all referees and VAR are alike and I’m sure the types and levels of communication vary.
I think PGMOL would benefit from some training from air traffic controller processes where communication clarity is critical. A simple repeat back of the decision would have prevented this. Had the referee said. *Offside being awarded and the restart is an IDFK * would have easily prevented all this or *I am awarding the goal*

As to the fallout from this I believe that too much is being made of it. Officiating mistakes have been part of the game forever. Without VAR the AR would have flagged for offside which would have stopped the goal. It is clear VAR can make mistakes as well and have done so since its inception. Too much is being made of this including talk of replays for such situations. Its a mistake that happened and PGMOL has to learn from it and move on. One learning point is it looks to me that the PL want match officials to restart games quickly and to limit the use of on field reviews. I get the desire to not hold up games for the spectators yet when that time urgency is placed on officials mistakes will happen. That is just a fact of life when rushing is a factor. As stated by IFAB accuracy is more important than speed.

I also believe there are two lessons in here for IFAB.
One is that Law 11 is not fit for purpose and its a poor law based on the modern game .
Second is that the notion that play cannot be brought back just because a restart has been taken is dated. It would not take too much of a change to allow a referee to go back say 20 seconds to undo an unseen flag or in this case a communication error in VAR. I’m sure when VAR saw the error he could have shouted stop the game and corrected the error probably all within 20 seconds when nothing much had happened anyway. Getting consumed by not going back is now dated thinking.



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