David Elleray Defends Var but Accepts It Has Damaged Football's Flow

David Elleray Defends Var but Accepts It Has Damaged Football's Flow
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David Elleray Defends Var but Accepts It Has Damaged Football's Flow

David Elleray Defends Var but Accepts It Has Damaged Football's Flow

David Elleray has admitted VAR has “had an impact on the flow of the game” but says that will have to be accepted as the game prioritizes getting the “right decision”.

The former referee, in his role as the technical director of the rule-making International Football Association Board (Ifab), has been at the heart of developing VAR as an aid to referees in eliminating “clear and obvious errors” from the game.

Although Elleray believes that the technology has “broadly benefited football” and points to a number of successes, each VAR decision takes time – Premier League matches regularly experience breaks that last for minutes – and that is unlikely to change.

“It’s clear that football is fairer, but it’s also clear that VAR has had an impact on the flow of the game,” Elleray said. “If you are going to stop the game to look at a replay that involves a stop in the flow of the game.

“Very early on in the VAR discussions people said maybe you should put a time limit on how long reviews should be but that would be to undermine the purpose of VAR, which is to deal with a clear and obvious error.

“If we said you can only take 30 seconds, then sometimes you need to look at different angles. What we normally say is that the longer it takes the less likely that it’s a clear and obvious error but … ultimately football’s expectation of reviews is that at the end it’s the right decision.”

Elleray said that no major changes were expected to VAR in the next year, although Fifa is continuing to study the possibility of automating offside decisions, which should make them quicker, and with “encouraging results”.

He also pointed to qualitative changes to the game he believes VAR has made possible, such as reducing diving in the box and the mobbing of referees.

“There are fewer games decided by clear and obvious errors by the match officials,” Elleray said. “There are fewer players getting away with violence on the field behind the referee’s back. I think some of the other benefits are less well publicized but there is evidence that there’s a significant reduction of simulation in the penalty area.

“There’s also a general reduction in players mobbing and arguing with referees because they know very well any contentious decision relating to a penalty or a goal is going to be checked or reviewed by the VAR. Behaviour is better.”

(The Guardian)



Manchester United’s Amorim: 'I Will Not Have Time, I Have to Get it Right, Fast'

Soccer Football - Premier League - Nottingham Forest v Manchester United - The City Ground, Nottingham, Britain - April 1, 2025 Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim REUTERS/Chris Radburn
Soccer Football - Premier League - Nottingham Forest v Manchester United - The City Ground, Nottingham, Britain - April 1, 2025 Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim REUTERS/Chris Radburn
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Manchester United’s Amorim: 'I Will Not Have Time, I Have to Get it Right, Fast'

Soccer Football - Premier League - Nottingham Forest v Manchester United - The City Ground, Nottingham, Britain - April 1, 2025 Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim REUTERS/Chris Radburn
Soccer Football - Premier League - Nottingham Forest v Manchester United - The City Ground, Nottingham, Britain - April 1, 2025 Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim REUTERS/Chris Radburn

Ruben Amorim insisted he will not be given much time to turn things around as Manchester United manager, as his team slumped to another defeat at Nottingham Forest on Tuesday.
Former United forward Anthony Elanga's fine early goal earned Forest a comfortable win at the City Ground, with the visitors slipping to their 13th defeat of the season in the Premier League.
Tuesday's loss takes United to within one of their record of 14 Premier League defeats in the 2023-24 season, leaving them languishing down in 13th in the table as Amorim struggles to instigate any real change.
"In Manchester United, you don't have the time," Amorim said. "I will not have the time. We have to get it right fast.
"In here, the pressure is too big sometimes. We start the game suffering a goal and put Nottingham in the place they want to be - defending with lots of men - then they have really fast players to make transitions.
"Even with that, we controlled the game quite well, especially in the second half. We push forward but again, in the final third, we were not good enough."
Alejandro Garnacho was especially wasteful in attack for United, finishing the match having had six of United's 24 shots at goal, without really testing Forest goalkeeper Matz Sels.
Amorim has defended the young Argentine in the past, and again insisted Garnacho's overall efforts are of the standard required.
"He is making everything," Amorim added, according to Reuters. "He's trying. Sometimes you have one day that you are doing the right things, but in the final third, you are not that good, that can happen.
"The most important thing for me is that when he needs to run back, he is running back. Of course we want a player that has one against one. Sometimes he is trying too much.
"I think he wants to help the team to do his best, sometimes he doesn't make the best choice, but you cannot point to any player today."