Referees and VAR can work well together. Should the PGMOL learn from EURO 2024?

Karan Ahgun

— 3 min read
Referees and VAR can work well together. Should the PGMOL learn from EURO 2024?
Photo by Diego Parodi / Unsplash

How refreshing has it been to see good refereeing and the effective use of VAR? English referees have been shown up by their counterparts this summer and most refereeing performances in this EUROs have been good, with strong decision-making and an element of letting the match flow being a major priority. Of course, the two games where there were elements of controversy turned out to be refereed by English refs.

The first of the blunders came in Match Day 1 between Spain and Croatia, where it seemed almost impossible not to send Rodri off for his challenge on Petkovic in the Spanish penalty box. But Michael Oliver and Stuart Atwell decided against sending the Manchester City midfielder despite the denial of a goalscoring opportunity. I understand that they may have been applying the double jeopardy rule but this looked like such an obvious red card for a player who always seems to avoid punishment. The second blunder was way more contentious and happened in Match Day 2 between The Netherlands and France. In my opinion, Xavi Simons scored a perfectly good goal but Anthony Taylor and Stuart Atwell decided to rule it out on account of a dubious offside decision against Denzel Dumfries. It looks like Mike Maignan was never going to save the shot but the French goalkeeper was clever in immediately gesturing towards Taylor as soon as the ball went in and certainly put the pressure on him. Even the post-match interaction between Mbappé, Simons, Depay and Wijnaldum showed a bit that the French captain was not too sure that the goal should be disallowed.

On a more positive note, fans who only watch Premier League football will have witnessed the effective use of VAR. Within that, semi-automated offsides have been a standout and it further highlights the incompetence of Premier League officials, who rejected the technology at the start of the season just gone. These offside decisions have mostly been quick and decisive and the graphics shown on TV give fans the peace of mind that no human error could contribute to the decisions made. Thank goodness that this technology will be adopted by the Premier League next season. One can only hope that the officials can apply its use properly.

The novel addition of the "snickometer" to the tools VAR can use has been interesting. The technology was first used in the Belgium vs. Slovakia to rule out a late Lukaku equaliser. I was really confused when it first showed up on the broadcast. I've seen it used in cricket when umpires are reviewing decisions but I didn't think it would turn up in football. Its use to uncover handballs so far in this tournament has been successful, even though some decisions have been viewed as harsh (like the one against Openda vs Slovakia). I think the next step in refereeing should be to make the VAR decisions audible to those in the stadium. FIFA have already trialled in the 2023 Women's World Cup and it was well-implemented, so I don't see why it can't be implemented on a more permanent basis.

Let's hope that the good standard of refereeing continues into the knockout stages! And leave the Argentinian referee alone, Steve Clarke!

Talk soon!

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