The mission of the video assistant referee (VAR) and his three assistants at the FIFA World Cup in Russia is to identify and eradicate human error.
In theory, the VAR room interventions mean that there will be no more ghost goals, hands of God and erroneous penalty decisions.
As a consequence, the days of diving prima donnas seeking to dupe the match officials would seem to be numbered. Desperate pleas of innocence by offenders will count for nothing as material evidence of their guilt is exposed via video replays.
As an article in Wired magazine explains, the use of VAR is, for now, confined to what is defined as “clear and obvious errors” in match-changing situations. However, its use will almost certainly be extended in the future. After all, with the multiple camera angles and slow motion reruns this is surely as close as we will ever get to infallibility.
Off the ball incidents will only go unpunished in the unlikely event that they also occur off-screen. With the number of cameras pointed at the pitch there are few blind spots.
Man vs Machine?
As a result, if soccer players were logical beings, premeditated fouls and rule-breaking could be expected to disappear. But you only have to see how many goal scorers continue to commit the yellow card offense of baring their hairless, gym-toned torsos to understand that logic goes out the window in moments of high emotion.
VAR has its fair share of critics but, with the stakes so high, it makes perfect sense for technology to be used in this way. It serves as a vital back up to the sole referee who has to make split second decisions. It’s amusing to see how the role of TV pundits has now been extended to the analysis, not only the actions of humans, but the use of technology.
Sporting events can’t be entirely automated but, with the line between success and failure being so fine, the outcome is destined to be determined by machines.
