Antonio Conte’s furious rant against VAR was another example of the fundamental misunderstanding a lot of people – including coaches and pundits – have about VAR, writes Susy Campanale.
Video Assistant Referee technology has been around for several years now, yet so many still don’t know or grasp the mechanics of the protocol. They are there for very specific reasons, namely that if it checked every tiny thing like corner kicks, yellow cards and free kicks, the games would last three hours.
There is also a reason why if the referee is called to the monitor for an on-field review, they hardly ever watch the footage back and stick by the original decision – although it is not unheard of. This is because they are only brought to the touchline if there is a ‘clear and obvious error.’ Again, there is a reason for this, as otherwise we may as well get someone with a monitor to call every foul and use the referee on the pitch to relay the message.
I refuse to believe Conte does not already know all of this. Of course he does. He simply wanted to channel his inner Jose Mourinho and send a ‘message’ through the media planting doubts in people’s minds about the fairness of the refereeing, well aware that the term ‘Marotta League’ was already trending on social media. It’s the same playbook that has been used through the decades back before VAR was introduced, when some sweet-natured optimists thought that bringing in technology would mean losing this attitude altogether. The fools. If a robot was used as a referee, someone would still manage to complain it was programmed by a Juventus supporter.
Conte no stranger to refereeing rows
It has always been thus, it wasn’t about Juve or now Inter, it was simply whoever is the biggest club at that time gets the benefit of the doubt. Adding in a layer of protection with VAR can only cancel out the most egregious examples of those errors, but it can never resolve every single issue. That is true more than ever when it comes to the incident Conte was raging about, because whether or not that was worthy of a penalty is entirely subjective. There is no single way to interpret it when there was contact, but minimal, and Conte surely knows that.
This incident also reiterates the huge gulf between the English approach and Italian, namely one feels VAR is used too much and the other that it isn’t used enough. They were meant to be clamping down on soft penalties and disallowed goals, yet Monza have been ripped off twice in recent weeks. We keep being told ‘step on foot’ is an automatic yellow card in Italy, but the same rule doesn’t seem to apply in the Champions League.
There is only one way of breaking past the necessary limitations of the VAR protocol and it is already being worked on right now. The FIGC is preparing to trial a number of calls that coaches can make to get a VAR On-Field Review, similar to the system currently used successfully in tennis. If the original decision is overturned, they get to keep the same number of calls, whereas they lose a go if the appeal proves unfounded. This would’ve allowed Conte to get the referee to review that Inter penalty, but not necessarily change his mind.
We have seen VAR mutate and grow over the years since it was first brought in, as much like the rules of the game itself, they are constantly changing to keep up with the modernisation of the sport. There are always going to be errors, all we can do is remove the most damning ones and accept that it’ll never be perfect. Accepting that imperfection might be the toughest part of all, especially for Conte.