Who or what actually destroys football? In addition to greedy FIFA and the competition-destroying sportswashing of entire states, VAR is one of the most common answers. He robs the spectators of their emotions and the trainers their minds. You want to get at him now.
RB Leipzig football coach Marco Rose has criticized the use of the video referee in the Bundesliga and advocated a rethink. “Overall, I think that in Germany we use the VAR inflationary. I know it differently from other leagues and also perceived it differently at the World Cup. We’re not doing the referees on the field any favors,” said the 46-year-old after the match 1: 2 on Saturday evening against Union Berlin. He has the impression that “we only watch TV and switch constantly”.
In the encounter between Berlin and Leipzig there had been three handballs in the penalty area, one of which led to the winning penalty. “When it comes to the rules of the hand, it’s really incredibly difficult,” said Union coach Fischer. “There are too many contentious situations that hardly anyone sees through.” Rose stressed that Leipzig’s Mohamed Simakan’s handball had legitimately led to a penalty for Union.
The Leipzig coach had no understanding for the denial of the equalizer. Berlin’s Aissa Laidouni wanted to clear a ball with his heel in the 78th minute, touched it and, according to Rose, canceled Timo Werner’s offside position. “That was a clear mistake for me because he doesn’t play the ball uncontrollably,” said Rose. Referee Daniel Schlager argued exactly with Sky: “There was no other option for the player. He could only clear the ball with his heel in the situation. It was deliberate, but uncontrolled.”
The use of the VAR, but also the referee’s performance in general, have once again caused unrest and incomprehension in German football in the past few days. On Wednesday, there was an almost five-minute VAR interruption in the cup game between VfL Bochum and Borussia Dortmund after a supposed handball by a Dortmund player. In the end there was a much-criticized decision, which was not discussed more loudly only because of Borussia’s victory.
On Friday, Schalke’s coach Thomas Reis was shocked by some of the referee’s decisions. “It’s cheeky,” he said about a yellow card against him and then complained about the video referee’s failure to intervene in another scene. “It’s a joke,” he said.
Even before the evening’s top game between RB Leipzig and Union Berlin, the VAR was again a lightning rod at the other end of the table. “The VAR was actually used to avoid clearly wrong decisions. With the second penalty, you can see from the referee’s hand movement that it’s clearly not a penalty for him. Then he goes out and they need ten minutes to make a decision. That’s how it will be Referee ducked,” said VfB Stuttgart coach Bruno Labbadia after the 2-1 draw at SC Freiburg.
After a 1-0 lead, VfB had to watch referee Sascha Stegemann allow himself to be corrected twice and, after a minute-long review, awarded Freiburg a penalty. “I’m an opponent of VAR, he’s destroying football,” said Labbadia, echoing a common sentiment among the country’s football coaches these days.
