The self proclaimed voice of Scottish football – Chris Sutton, is opposed to VAR being implemented in the SPFL, despite what he might say, there is a reason for this.
The “penalty to Rangers” myth would finally be put to bed, and his team, would finally be on a level playing field with the other teams in the Premiership.
Now, this might seem like a conspiracy in itself and a tad hypocritical but, when you consider that Celtic have a player booked once almost every 16 fouls and for most other clubs it’s nearly half of that, you have to wonder where they get the idea that the the SFA and officials are all out to get them.
VAR is only as good as the people implementing it and, speaking to Football Insider, former referees chief, Keith Hackett, believes that Sutton is applying false logic to his decision – if, of course, he is bing transparent about his reasons:
“Sutton probably sees more Scottish football than I do.
“But generally I’ve been praiseworthy of some of the officiating in Scotland in the season to date.
“Chris might have a bit of baggage with it but I’ll listen to what he has to say.
“If we look at the history of VAR’s introduction in the Premier League then everybody would be thinking ‘I don’t want it’. It’s only this season where they’ve adopted the real IFAB criteria where it’s worked well.
“He’s right to say, and I think it’s so important, that they get the right training into the decision-makers to ensure they are confident in how they operate in it and the teamwork is enhanced.
“We’re looking for those game-changing decisions, under those four levels of criteria, that when they’re clear and obviously wrong then the VAR will intervene.”
I have always been a fan of VAR having watched other sports use similar technology successfully for years, there is nothing worse than losing a game, dropping points or even worse, losing a cup final – 2019 league cup final springs to mind – because the officials have got it wrong, yes, sometimes there might be a delay in confirming if a goal has been allowed but it works both ways.
Imagine if VAR had been in place at Hampden in 2019, Rangers fans would have celebrated Celtic’s goal being disallowed as vociferously as if they had scored one themselves.
The biggest issue in Scotland remains the training and competence of officials, they aren’t corrupt or biased, they are just below the level needed and as long as they remain part-time, nothing will change.
I want VAR, but I’d rather have better refs first – Sutton doesn’t want change, but we all know why.