VAR is on the verge of extinction

Serie A has changed. More play, more running, more goals. Fewer – far fewer – VAR interventions and the same, mirror-image controversies. “What we are seeing in these opening league matches can be broken down into two major developments,” explains Graziano Cesari, a former international referee in the 1990s and long-standing Mediaset match analyst on ‘Pressing’, to Il Foglio Sportivo. “There’s a very good approach to assessing actual playing time, and the results are already evident: a record number of goals after five matchdays, no 0–0 draws. Teams need to get used to this new format, but so do the referees. And it’s positive for everyone.” What about the absence of technology, though? “We’ve just come off a season in which it was used excessively. So: we must be careful not to go to the other extreme. The refereeing authorities have already admitted to six clear mistakes, and that’s no small number. Football has very specific rules; it’s not a free-for-all. And we can’t go from one extreme to the other.”

It is important to distinguish who is responsible for these measures. The revolution against time-wasting, already trialled during the last World Cup in the US, was introduced by IFAB – the game’s governing body – with a number of rules applicable worldwide: substitutions must be made within 10 seconds, a 5-second countdown for goal kicks, and a one-minute time-out for players requesting a stoppage due to injury – subject to a few common-sense exceptions. As Cesari points out, “Pierluigi Collina is also among the architects of this initiative”, who, as head of FIFA’s Referees’ Committee, has been working closely with IFAB for years to steer football towards the adoption of actual playing time. In this context, the Italian refereeing authorities are simply applying the new regulations. The changes that essentially reflect the guidelines set out by Daniele Orsato – who, since this summer, has been the appointing officer for match officials in Serie A and B – concern the use of technology. “And this is where some doubts arise, especially after watching the first matchday of the Champions League, where the presence of VAR remained evident and the number of penalties increased. Immediately afterwards, the use of technology began to rise again here too. Coincidence? I don’t think so. I believe that in the medium term we will find a middle ground to restore balance: let’s just say we’re right in the middle of the process.”

Football, therefore, remains more resilient than one might think, adaptable to change. But with the league season already underway, the situation in Italy is far from idyllic. Complaints are being voiced on several fronts regarding the near-disappearance of off-field reviews: just one incident triggered by VAR in the first 50 Serie A matches – Rapuano in Genoa v Frosinone – compared with six interventions across 18 Champions League matches. “Caution is needed, because there is still only one set of rules,” Cesari points out. “And it takes no time at all to fuel controversy. Which, incidentally, will never disappear; I’ve seen this for decades. Let’s hope, in the meantime, that there are fewer controversies than in previous years: that would already be a very significant step forward. Not least because our league is of a high standard and well-balanced. But let’s not talk about ‘English-style’ refereeing: in the Premier League today, they blow the whistle for more fouls than we do. If anything, it’s a modern approach, in which referees have to run much more and be quick to read the play. In a professional game that has become increasingly intense, it’s essential that referees have a thorough understanding of the team leaders and the dynamics of the game involving the players directly involved.” Tackling techniques, body feints, body language. “The golden rule? Never fall behind: if you’re not in the right position on the pitch, you can’t see much and you can’t rely on your imagination. So referees must be good at anticipating plays. With a sense of responsibility, but also with the awareness that they can be assisted. That’s where VAR intervention becomes crucial: if only I’d had it…”

Any regrets? “That Bierhoff goal: the ball had crossed the line by half a metre, but unfortunately I didn’t manage to see it,” recalls Cesari, referring to the controversial 4–1 Juventus v Udinese match in 1997. “And then van Basten’s sending-off in place of Aldo Serena,” Milan v Roma, 1991. “There was a miscommunication with the linesman. Today people would cry scandal, but back then there were just three of us ‘unlucky blokes’ on the pitch: now there are six-man refereeing teams, even eight in World Cup finals. Plus goal-line technology and the spray can for free-kicks: huge aids. Back then we worked three times as hard, but everything was still primitive, based on experience. Another U-turn I don’t like is the return to the ‘glass bell’, with referees no longer allowed to speak: technical and disciplinary progress also means opening up to the outside world and the media, especially in a hyper-exposed world like ours. Otherwise, no big deal – I’d have loved to referee today, no end. Perhaps with the champions of yesteryear, that’s for sure.”