In addition to arriving to eliminate the inevitable human errors, VAR broke into Spanish football with the utopian goal of reducing refereeing controversies. More than five years later, not even the game forums, an objective aspect, infallible in principle for technology, have avoided heated debates. The hermeticism of the arbitration collective has not helped much either, with almost no statements. Referees’ faces pop up a lot on television and in photographers’ lenses, but almost no football fan would be able to recognize their voices. At least, until now. In a step forward in favor of transparency, LaLiga and the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) announced yesterday that they will publish the conversations between the referee on the field and the VAR when a play is reviewed on the monitor. The two entities, which did not specify whether all the audios will be released or just a few, will soon offer more information.
“The idea is to take steps forward. That everyone can see what protocol is followed and how the field referee makes the final decision. It is a historic moment”, said the president of the Technical Committee of Referees (CTA), Luis Medina Cantalejo, about this progress, which is added to the implementation in Spain next season of the semi-automatic offside.
Dialogues with the VAR, practically a popular claim, will be launched in the Spanish Super Cup, which will take place in Saudi Arabia between January 10 and 14. In this way, the first test bench will be the semi-final between Real Madrid and Atlético. The other semi-final will be played on the 11th between Barça and Osasuna. The talks between the referees will reach the League from matchday 20, the first of the second round, which will take place between January 12 and 15. The Second Division League will also be launched these days. The dialogues will be available to the official match operators at the end of each day of competition. The live broadcast of the referee’s voice is still a long way off, a possibility that was recently ruled out by the IFAB, in charge of football rules.
“It’s fantastic. It is very positive that people see what the referees interpret. The referee must be humanized. Being a referee is very difficult. We have to help them. It’s great news”, said Barça coach Xavi Hernández yesterday to celebrate the opening of the arbitration to the public.
VAR arrived in Spain in the 2018-2019 season. In the first year, some dialogues with the VOR room were broadcast, such as a play in Real Madrid-Real Sociedad de la Liga, in which the whites claimed a penalty for Vinícius, or a maximum penalty in favor of Barça, corrected by the VAR, in the Camp Nou classic. These examples have not been seen again in recent years. Now, the arbitration, tainted by the Negreira case and with the complaints drawer full to overflowing, even with VAR errors recognized by the CTA, has radically turned the strategy. However, the transparency that is intended with the publication of the dialogues can cause the opposite effect and, therefore, fan the fire of controversy, even more if possible, in the often hysterical world of football.
