RateTheRef

A minor point but I am not sure that this has any basis in law?

In general terms, 'careless' is not a card at all but with DOGSO in the penalty area then I think any foul has to be at least a yellow, even if accidental?

We should again remember that clear and obvious does not apply to offside - you are always either onside or offside.

The question then becomes the extent to which the technology can accurately determine that. I don't know the precise figure for that but I believe the World Cup, like the Premier League next season, uses a 3D system which has a high level of accuracy, even if not at 100%. I believe  the judgement is probably more accurate than anything we've had previously so I'm happy to accept it - it's worth remembering that it will also allow some goals that would previously have been disallowed.

Sorry if my remarks didn't seem sufficiently germane to the context, which was the future and the need to modify the philosophy of how VAR is applied.  In this context the current laws are only relevant insofar as they need to be changed for VAR decisions.

Not sure what 3D systems are being considered; Man City, Liverpool and Arsenal are reportedly installing 38 cameras that are integrated through an Intel system to allow viewing from any angle.  Also not sure whether the World Cup you are referring to is the current Women's World Cup or last year's Men's World Cup but both only seem to show conventional views in support of offside decisions.

There seem to be a couple of relevant questions here - one is whether the technology is accurate enough to judge a player being half a toe offside and the second is the more philosophical/empathy question as to whether a player being half a toe offside should be penalised.

Have a clear view on the first and you solve the second.  Accepting a corridor of uncertainty for VAR offside decisions means that you can have a higher degree certainty for decisions outside that corridor.  Cricket seems to be more statistically savvy and having swallowed the camel (so to speak) of Duckworth-Lewis does not strain at the gnat of umpire's decision for LBW referrals.  The problem of two similar reconstructed situations having different outcomes depending on the original umpire's call does not to cause dispute in cricket.

The cricket DRS had problems at first when at times I wondered whether some video umpires were being deliberately obtuse to try and discredit the system.  Now and particularly since we see and hear the video umpire going through the process I think that it greatly enhances the game and has improved umpiring performance.

This is interesting!

https://twitter.com/tancredipalmeri/status/1146530545846947840?s=21

Going to be very interesting to see how this one plays out.

Correct me if I'm wrong but haven't we seen a referee sent home from a tournament (not the WWC but last year sometime) with the reason being they had ignored VAR & given a wrong call? May well have been speculation on here as to that being the reason, come to think of it but it seems to ring a bell with me!

what I want to know is will VAR reduce the cost of my TV license, or for the better off , their sky subscription. If VAR turns out to be such a success. which I very much doubt, Surely the BBC will not require the amount of overpaid pundits, how much does Lynaker get these days?, to second guess and gabble on when in actual fact we could see more actual action from the games.

Far from it, they'll now have a ref and a VAR ref to slate and moan about, that has to be worth at least an extra 30 mins waffle time!

Would love to see the UK based shows be more like the góóól show on M4 sports. Yes they have the pundits and some waffle but the waffle is often tactical type stuff & the ref only gets the briefest of mentions if they have made a real big game changing error. My Hungarian is not enough to follow everything they say, but I am friends with the analyst from the show & he will always translate any parts of it for me that I completely don't understand but I know the key words & basics. 1 word you rarely hear is "Játékvezető" or even the referees name.

Not sure of its relevance, but media today reports Caroline Wozniacki blaming 'absurd and crazy' hawk-eye rulings for her Wimbledon defeat yesterday. Her suggestion was that the device had been sited in the wrong place so its angles were wrong, ceding advantage to her opponent. Any thoughts? Could this be relevant to VAR in football?

Edit - also reported that play at Wimbledon has had to be held up on more than one occasion by the sound of champagne corks popping and even the odd cork flying on to the court. At least that shouldn't happen in football, should it...? 

Correct VAR intervention in the women's world cup final.

In general, rather like the men's world cup last summer, it feels like VAR has been smoother during the knockout stages - I'm not sure if this is due to circumstance, players having got more used to the system or the better officials (both on-field and VAR) being used.

Interview with Mike Riley in The Times - https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/english-game-will-be-soft-on-handball-mike-riley-rjbf5pztt

The essence of it is contained here - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/48903289

Riley confirms that handball interpretation will not be as severe as we have seen in the Champions League/women's world cup - '“What we don’t want to create is a culture when defenders have to defend with their hands behind their back or where it is acceptable for attackers to try to drill the ball at their hand to win a penalty.'

There have been 14 decisions changed in the 69 trial matches played with VAR in England so far, so a review about 1 in every 5 games - this is less frequent than in other countries and I think reflects a desire to maintain the flow of the game and keep to the 'clear and obvious error' threshold.

It also confirms that pitchside monitors will be used sparingly - referees are expected to trust the VAR unless the information they are receiving deviates significantly from their expectations/interpretation. There will be pitchside monitors that referees can use but only if they really feel that it is necessary. Riley said how often in other countries there are four or five minutes taken for an on-field review which basically consist of the VAR and the referee looking at the same incident and coming to the obvious conclusion.

As I said previously, I actually think that the introduction of VAR in the Premier League could be a reasonably smooth and effective one. I think that generally speaking it wasn't too intrusive in the trial matches in England last season.

But surely having a different interpretation in the PL as will be used in CL, EL, qualifiers etc puts our teams and officials at a disadvantage?
I agree that reviews need to be quicker, VAR needs to be trusted more (when you see Kuipers and Makkelie together it gels, runs smoother) but to implement a different system seems barmy to me

I think there has been a difference in interpretation between the Premier League and other competitions abroad for a long time.

If you change it in the Premier League then you'd surely also have to change it in the football league (at least - and probably elsewhere in England too to avoid confusion/different standards) because Premier League teams could face those sides in domestic cup competitions.

I think it's much better for a handful of teams and a couple of referees to adjust to a stricter interpretation of handball when involved in UEFA/FIFA games maybe a dozen or so times a season rather than impose a handball interpretation on the whole of the English pyramid that most people in the country seem opposed to.

But surely having a different interpretation in the PL as will be used in CL, EL, qualifiers etc puts our teams and officials at a disadvantage?
I agree that reviews need to be quicker, VAR needs to be trusted more (when you see Kuipers and Makkelie together it gels, runs smoother) but to implement a different system seems barmy to me

Part of the evolution I guess and if our less intrusive way seems to work better then perhaps it will be adopted further afield.  I think we all agree with Mike Riley regarding the handball scenario's as it's something many of us have raised concerns about.  Most players in the PL, who play in Europe regularly are already used to stricter interpretations in the CL/EL so I think they should be able to adapt. It's always been the way that HB seem harsher in mainland Europe so in many ways it is nothing new.