VAR is finally on its way to Scottish football with matches this season set to benefit from an extra set of eyes.
The system first came into use at the 2018 World Cup Finals in Russia and was quickly taken up by the major leagues with Scotland one of the few countries not to have any form of VAR.
Celtic’s Europa League group matches have VAR coverage but it seems that the costs and training involved have prevented it from being adopted across the Scottish game.
Next Friday the SFA will host a summit where former FIFA referee Howard Webb will outline exactly what is involved in bringing Scottish football into the 21st century.
Speaking to the Glasgow Times, Ian Maxwell said:
VAR has been under discussion by the Scottish FA’s Professional Game Board since its introduction into the Laws of the Game in 2018. Scottish football took the view that it was be preferable to see the technology be refined, overcome inevitable teething problems and, naturally, become more cost-effective.
VAR is here to stay and in a short period its implementation has advanced significantly, while its set-up and maintenance costs have reduced. We are now at the point where we need to discuss and ideally agree on its introduction into Scottish football.
The Scottish FA believes it is necessary for the evolution of our domestic game, to provide additional support to our match officials and also to maximise their potential on the domestic, European and international stages.
Neil Doncaster added:
Given the costs involved and the potential effects on the natural flow of the game, it was always a sensible decision to monitor the introduction of VAR in other competitions before considering implementation in the cinch Premiership.
Now that there has been a meaningful bedding-in period in several leagues, now is a good time to look again at the benefits of the technology. We are keen to hear the views of the clubs, officials and fans and look forward to discussions over the next few months.
Not every incident on the pitch will be covered by VAR but every goal will be reviewed as well as goal-mouth incidents which should prevent a repeat of the horrendous decisions at the 2015 Scottish Cup semi-final between Celtic and Inverness Caley Thistle.
VAR, is long overdue, but to get parity from “The Butchers Of Glasgow”, we need more than VAR. CCTV perhaps. The referees prepare for every game by carrying out their check list….
Whistle – Pencil – Notebook – Masonic lucky mascot.
Cards – Red – Yellow and Sevco’s get out of jail free card.
Knowing full well that the 5Way Agreement with all its signatories gives them the ultimate freedom to foul at will.
VAR only gives a biased ref an out while making an already bad decision!
It’s only as good as the person reviewing it.
It doesn’t make the decisions, it merely looks at different ways to support a ref’s already appalling decions. VAR gives excuses to incompetent bigots like Collum, Clancy, Madden, Ross etc to continue with their glaring “honest mistakes” while covering their actions.
It allows them to say, “VAR showed what I couldn’t see”.
Having a biased bigot with a whistle is bad enough! Now we have computerized their support staff too!
Not every sevco incident ye mean.
SFA are considering it. They are just waiting on what Ludge Ibrox says about it.
Then there will be the obligatory consultation period with Leagues stakeholders. That should take maybe another 3/4 seasons, then they will take their time, another 5 years at least, touring the European Leagues to fact find (Jollies) before feeding it back to the clubs to decide. Then all the Scottish sides, except Celtic, with a nudge frae the Ludge will say that it’s not a good fit for the Scottish game and kick it into touch.
At this stage, 10/15 years from now, in all the major football leagues players will take to the park wearing GoPro Body Cams. Best wee bigoted country in the Wurld
Wans in the Studio will be Bent resulting in pens given tae FILTH wae Ref just accepting the decision tae benefit the SCUM!!
Will be a good thing providing we don’t use bigot team supporters but then again that’s not possible as the sfa is full of them .