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)



American Athletes Will Relish LA Olympic ‘Home Games’, Says Felix

Olympian Allyson Felix talks during the Deep Blue Business of Women's Sport Summit at Chelsea Factory on April 22, 2025 in New York City. (Getty Images/AFP)
Olympian Allyson Felix talks during the Deep Blue Business of Women's Sport Summit at Chelsea Factory on April 22, 2025 in New York City. (Getty Images/AFP)
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American Athletes Will Relish LA Olympic ‘Home Games’, Says Felix

Olympian Allyson Felix talks during the Deep Blue Business of Women's Sport Summit at Chelsea Factory on April 22, 2025 in New York City. (Getty Images/AFP)
Olympian Allyson Felix talks during the Deep Blue Business of Women's Sport Summit at Chelsea Factory on April 22, 2025 in New York City. (Getty Images/AFP)

American athletes at the Los Angeles Games in 2028 will have the rare opportunity to compete at an Olympics on home soil and those considering retirement may not be able to resist sticking around for the chance, Olympic legend Allyson Felix said.

Felix, the most decorated female track and field athlete of all time, has few regrets about an Olympic career that spanned five Games but said never getting the chance to lace up her spikes in the US is one.

"What I would have loved most is to have a home Games," Felix, an LA native and now an LA28 board member, told Reuters.

"We've worked really hard to bring the Games back to LA and more than anything, I'm excited the athletes have this opportunity to be on full display in America. That's huge.

"I'm excited for Angelinos and the rest of the world too. We get to welcome them in and they get to see the Games up close."

Gymnast Simone Biles said last week she had not yet decided whether to compete in what would be her fourth Games as she picked up her Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year award in Madrid.

Seven-time Olympic champion Biles saw first-hand the passionate reception French gymnasts received every time they were announced at the Bercy Arena during last year's Paris Games and it remains to be seen if the prospect of hearing roars of "USA! USA!" will entice her to return.

Felix said that vision has undeniable appeal to all potential Team USA athletes.

"If you can stick around to be involved in some capacity, you can't pass that up," Felix said.

Felix was all smiles at a recent event with the Los Angeles Jets where she surprised members of the venerable youth track and field club with the children's snack food Danimals as part of a promotional campaign.

"The Jets are such a powerhouse and a staple in the community and looking at these kids it's interesting because beyond '28, they are going to be the ones who are out there," she said.

The mother of two has been a trailblazer for women in sports and said she saw glimpses of her younger self in the fresh-faced sprinters she lined up against.

"We did a little relay and they wanted to race me for real," said Felix, who won 11 Olympic medals including seven golds.

"I love to see that because yeah, you should!"