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Manchester United have had more than their fair share of controversial VAR decisions and disciplinary issues in recent times.
Many of the Old Trafford faithful would like VAR scrapped altogether but it is looking likely that, if anything, the opposite is about to happen as the International Football Association Board (IFAB) have announced a series of proposals that could be introduced to the game if they are approved at its annual general meeting in March 2024. These are as follows:
Sin-Bins
The BBC reports that one such change could be the introduction of a ten minute sin-bin for cynical fouls and dissent. It has been recommended to be trialled in the professional game and in fact, sin-bins have been used in youth football since 2019.
The move is clearly emulating rugby to try and foster an environment of greater respect and fair play in the game. Sin-bins have been in effect in rugby for over 20 years at this point. However, not all in the rugby world are happy with the idea. Exeter rugby director, Rob Baxter, has urged football’s law-makers to be careful. A respected voice in the game of rugby, he claims that he was surprised when football introduced VAR and stated “I am not sure how much they realised they were letting the genie out of the bottle. We are meddlers in sport, and rugby is the worst of the lot”.
Hardly a ringing endorsement for more change.
Nonetheless, IFAB secretary Lukas Brud said one of the next steps was to identify the appropriate competition where the trials could take place. “The positive message of the meeting is that ‘yes, we’re going to do something in that direction’,” Brud told BBC Sport.
Brud claimed that the footballing authorities now need to determine which is the best level to trial the sin-bins and that they would apply to both male and female football.
Many former professionals have come out against the proposal. Chelsea and England centre-back John Terry said on X (formerly twitter) he “did not like” the idea of sin-bins because he felt “the level of tolerance and inconsistencies from referees will differ every week”.
Sky Sports pundit, Jamie Carragher, was more balanced in his viewpoint. Whilst the former Liverpool defender claimed he wasn´t a fan of sin-bins, he did believe there were too many red cards in the modern game. He provided the example of Marcus Rashford’s and Curtis Jones’ recent red cards that were more than yellows but a sending-off was harsh. The former England international mused that perhaps a sin-bin could be an adequate solution.
The article also stated that new proposals could see a scenario where only the club captain is allowed to approach the referee.
Changes to how VAR operates
The Sun has reported that numerous changes could be on their way regarding how involved VAR gets in the decision making process.
Currently VAR can only be used for “match-changing incidents” such as goals, penalties and red cards. However, new proposals could see its remit grow. VAR powers could also be extended to free-kicks, corners and second yellow cards.
The IFAB are also keen to continue to develop semi-automated offside decisions to aid on-field match officials and speed up the decision making process such as was used at the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
Additionally, the footballing authorities want to address the frustration at a seeming lack of communication around VAR decisions. The Women’s World Cup in July saw referees announce VAR decisions to the crowd via a microphone. Such an example of a farcical lack of communication came in September, when miscommunication between VAR’s Darren England and referee Simon Hooper saw Liverpool’s Luis Diaz have a goal wrongly ruled out for offside in their Premier League game against Tottenham.
However, the situation is complex, as there is apparently “little or no appetite outside of English football for VAR conversations between the video booth and the referee to be played out live either on TV or in the stadium”.
FA chief executive Mark Bullingham asserted that generally there is also “a split in the room over that (broadcasting of live decisions), and quite often it’s between the marketing-and-commercial people and the referees”. A clear decision either way seems unlikely in the near future due to the entrenched opinions of both sides.
The Sun report also claims that “controversy has followed a spate of decisions in the Premier League alone this season”. The authorities state they are keen not to slow the game down any more but then we have seen ridiculous scenarios like Chelsea’s win at Spurs on the 1st of November which saw nine VAR checks, five disallowed goals, two red cards and 21 minutes of added time across the two halves. Carnage.
New proposals to allow VAR to interfere in free-kicks, corners etc. could undermine referees even more and would most likely add more additional time to the game. New regulations such as bringing in tougher handball laws for next season, with red cards for deliberate offences inside the penalty box, have also been discussed. Additionally, the idea of penalty kicks needing to be taken with the ball touching the centre of the spot have also been mentioned.
Whilst the game is and always needs to be evolving, it seems that we are getting to a point of no return. Faith in VAR and refereeing seems at an all-time low at home and abroad. It has been reported by The Peoples Person that Man United fans have been left incensed by VAR this year with a glut of disallowed goals and penalties not given going against their side. Newcastle United were also left flabbergasted by VAR’s incredible decision this week to award Paris Saint-Germain a last second penalty for a dubious handball.
Moreover, a range of Premier League managers have spoken out against the quality of referring and VAR in recent weeks, such as Mikel Arteta, Roberto De Zerbi and Gary O´Neil. In fact, just this week, the Bournemouth boss commented on the “mind-boggling” decisions VAR has given.
Clearly, something needs to change, however, more stoppages to play and giving the heavily critiqued VAR a greater remit is questionable at best. Especially when the objective seems to be to speed up the game.
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