Gordon Smith: VAR is the future – but not quite yet in Scotland

HAS this World Cup been a bridge too VAR? Here I consider the pros and cons of the system which has been the talk of the steamie this summer.

What were your hopes and fears over VAR before the World Cup started?

Having pushed for this sort of innovation on FIFA and UEFA committees a decade ago, only to see my arguments rejected, I was very much in favour of the introduction of this system as an important move towards eradicating wrong and unfair decisions in the game.

I did fear having referees going to the sidelines to see the incident again – as opposed to rulings being made off pitch – would lead to long breaks in play. And so it has proved.

How do you feel the system has performed?

On the whole, it has done well.

Almost every incident which has been referred has been analysed and the correct decision arrived at and implemented.

I say on the whole because there have been a couple of times where the official’s interpretation of the rules has seemed questionable.

When you are dealing with humans, there is always going to be the possibility of human error.

Are referees becoming over reliant on it?

No, not that I have seen. I guess somewhere down the line that might be a consideration, but it is a minor issue compared to the desirability of getting the big calls right.

What can be done about players constantly looking for every decision to be reviewed?

This has been the one really annoying aspect of VAR.

We are getting players going right into the face of the officials and, for me, it should be treated in exactly the same way as players who wave imaginary cards to get opponents booked.

It should be a cautionable offence, with examples made to discourage others.

How should FIFA handle the crowding of refs after VAR decisions by the players who have lost out?

As annoying as the above is, this is inexplicable because there is no chance of any decision reached after a review being overturned.

I’d hope players would come to realise as much. If they don’t, then again I would be issuing them with yellow cards.

Is VAR here to stay for World Cup Finals and other major football occasions?

Yes, very much. It is the future.

We could see tweaks made and the experience might end up being different to what we are witnessing right now.

But I strongly believe this sort of system will be used at the very top level of the game from hereon in.

There is too much money at stake for this not to be the case.

Having been exposed to VAR on their TVs all summer, will there be a backlash from players and fans when the system is not replicated in domestic football?

You can imagine there will be a degree of frustration on occasions when decisions in domestic matches are shown to be glaringly in error.

To be fair, that has always been the case. The problem we have is that different games get different levels of coverage, with outside broadcast only really used in the major matches.

The SFA have warned the cost of VAR will be a factor in terms of it ever being used in the Scottish game. Would resources be better spent elsewhere?

Yes. I think the starting point we should aim for is goal line technology for all Premiership matches as well as Cup semi-finals and Finals.

This would not, I believe, be a huge outlay. Celtic already have it in place for use in Champions League ties. But it would make a big difference straight away.

Are there any modifications you would like to see made to VAR?

I believe referees being called off the pitch to review decisions is both unnecessary and time-consuming.

The people looking at the incidents are qualified referees, so their judgement should be good enough.

Challenges should come from the teams themselves. Make a challenge from the dugout – and get it wrong – and you lose it. Get it upheld and you retain it.

VAR should also be used retrospectively to catch divers.

These cheats have got away with it quite a few times in this World Cup, which is ridiculous given the technology is in place to stamp it out.