“Where 10 centimeters, there are half a meter”: how did Russia react to the proposal of the UEFA president to change the offside rule

“I'm not a VAR fan. Unfortunately, there is no turning back. ”

The VAR theme has recently hit the edge of world football. The innovation still causes a lot of controversy, and the decisions of the judges after watching the replays sometimes shock the fans. So, a serious scandal caused an episode that occurred in a recent Champions League match between Real Madrid and PSG.

In Madrid, the goalkeeper of the hosts Thibaut Courtois shot down an opponent outside the box and received a red card. Considering that only the first half was coming to an end, what happened could seriously affect the outcome of the meeting. However, the chief referee Arthur Soares Diash, taking a pause, unexpectedly canceled the removal. The reason is a foul not recorded a little earlier on Marcelo in midfield.

Such a strange verdict of the judge caused another surge of criticism regarding the VAR. But a complete surprise was the inclusion in the discussion of the head of UEFA Alexander Cheferin, who, it would seem, should protect the system. However, he decided to make out all the disadvantages of the innovation, and began by determining the position outside the game.

“If you have a long nose, you can be offside,” quotes Ceferina Mirror.

He complained that with the introduction of VAR, literally millimeters decide everything in this regard. Moreover, the functionary intends to make a proposal when determining the position outside the game to allow a 10-20-cm offside by the striker. In addition to criticizing a single rule, the UEFA leader spoke negatively about the VAR system itself.

“If you are the referee of the match, even if 70 or 80 thousand people are making noise in the stands, it is you who must make the decision, not the person in London, Berlin or elsewhere. I am not a fan of VAR. I was skeptical about its introduction, and I can say that I do not like the result. Unfortunately, now there is no turning back, ”Cheferin added.

Also, according to him, at the moment, fans, football players and coaches interpret many episodes in different ways, which leads to additional, sometimes unfounded, criticism of the judges.

“Two weeks ago a meeting of leading experts took place in UEFA, attended by Jürgen Klopp, Josep Guardiola, Massimiliano Allegri, Carlo Ancelotti, Zinedine Zidane. All the top coaches of the European teams, to whom our senior refereeing officer Roberto Rosetti showed an episode with a hand game. He asked: “Was there a hand or not?” Half of the audience said “yes”, half - “no.” Tell me how clearly the rule is formulated? We don’t know anything, ”summarized Cheferin.

“We want to see goals, not sidebar referees raised up”

In order to deal with the proposals of the UEFA president, in particular, in determining the offside, RT turned to the famous coach Valery Nepomnyashchy and ex-striker of the Russian team Dmitry Bulykin. They expressed two opposing points of view. So, Nepomniachtchi rather took the side of Cheferin.

“I agree that when the VAR shows the offside line, sometimes the length of the nose really matters. Honestly, I do not understand and do not accept. Initially, there were 13 rules in which it was clearly stated that “offside” is fixed if the player of the attacking team is behind the defender's line. That was understandable. Now everything is complicated. An offside decision is often at the discretion of the judges, ”said the coach.

According to him, the VAR only added a headache to the judges, since their colleagues, who monitor the situation through repetition, are also far from sinless.

“And they can be mistaken, therefore it is not clear to me how all this happens. Now the work of the referees to a greater extent affects the outcome of the matches and the actions of the players, ”the coach added.

In turn, Bulykin, who scored 106 goals in his career and knew how to open on the verge of an offside position, on the contrary, did not agree with Cheferin's opinion.

“Understand where 10-20 centimeters, there are 30-40, and then half a meter. Already, computers determine the minimum offsides. I think this is quite enough. Of course, we all want to see goals, not the side referee's raised flags. But the existing system will still be finalized, and it will instantly fix the position outside the game. It’s better to refine it, rather than reinvent the wheel and allow microscopic offsides, ”said Bulykin.

Forward explained the benefits of technical innovation in refereeing as an example of other sports.

“You know, I often watch tennis. When players take a challenge there, a literally millimeter strike is often recorded. But it's still out. If there is an “offside”, even if your nose is longer than the opponent’s nose, this is still an offside position. The same thing happens in other sports, where the winner at the finish line is determined by the fractions of a second, ”the former forward of the Russian national team emphasized.

“There is no ideal system that will allow avoiding judicial errors”

Also, the offer of Cheferin, at the request of RT, was commented by the ex-head of the refereeing and inspection department of the RFU Andrei Budogossky. He noted that there is no need to talk about changing the offside rule at the moment.

“The rule of football at number 11“ Offside ”is based on well-defined criteria. The International Council of Football Associations (IFAB) has, in the last few years, finally brought this very complex and controversial rule into optimal condition. Talking about 10-20 cm is now difficult, ”said the judge.

Nevertheless, according to Budogossky, the definition of the offside position should be returned in accordance with the previous criteria.

“Previously, rule 11 defined the offside as follows. If a football player with the whole body is closer to the goal line than the opponent, then this is an offside position. In my opinion, it was right. There was a clear and understandable criterion. And today we are talking about some separate parts of the body, for example, the nose. This scrupulousness creates big problems for decision making. In the end, not every match has a VAR that can help a judge. We are always talking about supporting attacking football, and that’s true. On the other hand, obstacles appear on the way to this, ”said Budogossky.

But with the criticism of VAR from Cheferin, the former head of the domestic refereeing fully agreed and noted that the technique would not help to avoid the mistakes of the referees.

“At one time, as the head of the refereeing and inspection department of the RFU, I sharply spoke out against VAR, for which Valery Karpin proposed to burn me at the stake. I think this system will not benefit the game in the first place. And now Cheferin criticized VAR. Football is still a natural game, and we are planting some kind of technology in it. Well, during the match you can watch one or two repetitions. But who guarantees that during the meeting you will not have such episodes eight to ten? And one episode can be watched for three minutes. Let's multiply ten by three. How much time will we spend? Thus, the entertainment of the match is lost. And most importantly, you need to understand that there is no ideal system that will allow avoiding judicial errors. Whatever we come up with, the blots will remain, ”summed up Budogossky.