VAR in Scotland

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“Is VAR going to be the saviour of Scottish football or is it never going to happen?”

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Should it happen and who will pay for it?

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The referees in football have got a tough job to do. All over the world a referee’s job is hard, but it is especially difficult being a referee in Scotland. The Scottish FA have been receiving some unwanted criticism due to the decisions that are being made during and after games.

Is the answer to this Video Assistant Referees?

VAR is being used by several leagues around the world such as the Spanish top division and is used in the Champions League. VAR is a referee or a group of referees in a room which has several cameras from the game they are reviewing and once an incident is send to the VAR room, they decide the outcome of the situation.

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The system is used in over 20 countries around the world as well as several international tournaments such as the World Cup in Russia last year.

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There are certain occasions were VAR can be used and will be used, the types of play that will be reviewed are if there is a goal and there was an offside or a foul leading up to the goal, penalty decisions, direct red card and mistaking identity when a red or yellow card is given accidentally.

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VAR would be excellent in Scotland because there are so many decisions that are made about these 4 criteria’s that either go unnoticed or are awarded incorrectly. The Video Assistant Referees being in place would mean that key decisions in matches will be able to be reviewed in real time rather than everyone reviewing the goal on their own from videos they see on social media.

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The use of VAR will also protect referees and the SFA as they will not be under as much pressure to make decisions on the spot and it won’t be all on the head referees to make the decisions, he will be able to hear people’s opinions that have the best view and can watch the scenario several times if necessary.

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The introduction of VAR has also been backed by several teams and managers, but it is still a concern who is going to be paying for the expensive system to be brought in.

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 Should it be the top division that pays for the entire SPFL to get access to VAR at all games or do people want teams like Rangers and Celtic to pay?

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Hopefully in the coming years we find out more about VAR and get a decision on whether it will be coming to the SPFL.

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By Stuart McDougall