December 6 – Amid growing criticism across Europe over the inconsistent way VAR is being interpreted, UEFA are to ask football’s lawmakers for greater clarification according to UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin.
Marginal offside decisions have been the focus of particular confusion and Ceferin confirmed UEFA will be proposing new measures to the International FA Board ahead of its annual meeting on February 29.
“We have to make it clearer. We have to make it faster. We have to make it less invasive,” Ceferin told reporters this week at the conclusion of UEFA’s latest executive committee meeting.
Ceferin said the offside rule, with its inherent nuances, was creating particular concern. “Goal-line technology works perfectly but offside cannot work that way. I still think that football needs uncertainty. The referees on the pitch have to take responsibility and not some people hidden somewhere in a van or in a building 500 kilometers from the venue.”
Earlier this week, Ceferin expanded on the precise application of VAR for offside in an interview with Britain’s Daily Mirror newspaper.
“VAR is a disaster,” he said. “Offside shouldn’t be that one or two centimetres is enough to whistle. It shouldn’t be that having a big nose can put you offside. We’ll look to give a margin of 10 or 20 centimetres.
“I’m not a VAR fan. I was always sceptical and I can say that I don’t like it. But unfortunately there’s no turning back.”
Ceferin also expressed concern about the current handball law rule which no longer distinguishes between deliberate or otherwise.
“Two weeks ago we had the best coaches in the world at UEFA,” Ceferin said. “There was [Jurgen] Klopp, [Pep] Guardiola, [Massimiliano] Allegri, [Zinedine] Zidane and [Carlo] Ancelotti…
“So our referee chief Roberto Rossetti put on a video. In it, there was a possible handball and they were asked if it was a handball or not. Half of them said yes, and half said no. The rule isn’t clear.”
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