{"id":295281,"date":"2023-10-05T22:28:48","date_gmt":"2023-10-05T22:28:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/?p=295281"},"modified":"2023-10-05T22:28:48","modified_gmt":"2023-10-05T22:28:48","slug":"nothings-changed-with-var-says-gareth-southgate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/soccer\/nothings-changed-with-var-says-gareth-southgate\/","title":{"rendered":"Nothing\u2019s changed with VAR, says Gareth Southgate"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/p>\n
England boss Gareth Southgate believes VAR has not done anything to resolve controversial refereeing decisions.<\/p>\n
The off-field decision-making process has come under renewed fire this week after Liverpool were denied a fair goal in their defeat at Tottenham when VAR Darren England mistakenly thought the on-field decision was onside and inadvertently validated the linesman\u2019s offside call, with play restarting before the mistake was noticed.<\/p>\n
There has been a huge fallout from the gaffe, with Reds boss Jurgen Klopp calling for the game to be replayed while the Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) has announced a review into VAR and its practices.<\/p>\n
Southgate has always been against it and says nothing has changed from when on-field decisions were final.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell, all I would say is everybody used to go to the pub and moan about the ref and they still go to the pub and moan about the ref,\u201d he quipped.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I\u2019m not sure what we\u2019ve resolved, really. I don\u2019t like it, never have, so I have sort of dismissed it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just was always brought up as a kid that the referee\u2019s decision was final. You might agree or disagree but we have to get on with it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t ever feel we were going to resolve every issue.<\/p>\n
All I would say is everybody used to go to the pub and moan about the ref and they still go to the pub and moan about the ref<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we are probably too far down the line now to go back but I didn\u2019t like it from the off.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce you open up a technology opportunity, you are normally going that way and you have got to refine and improve on what happens. But yes, I don\u2019t like it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The PGMOL has taken unprecedented steps in recent times of retrospectively releasing audio of the decision-making process, including England\u2019s expletive-filled mistake at the weekend.<\/p>\n
But fans in the stadium remain in the dark at the time, often left waiting for up to five minutes while decisions are scrutinised in Stockley Park.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen I am at games I am always conscious that the only people who don\u2019t know what is going on are the people who have paid to go,\u201d he said. \u201cI find that really difficult.<\/p>\n
\u201cI am sitting in the stadium next to people and I am lucky as I normally get a free ticket and other people pay a lot of money and haven\u2019t got a clue or are on the phone to someone at home asking what\u2019s going on.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe frustration, you can feel it in the stadium, you can feel the view.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know if we didn\u2019t have it people would go back to, \u2018well this could be resolved\u2019, but when I am in the stadiums my sense is they don\u2019t necessarily want 14 minutes of added time or a decision by something that they are not totally across the process of.\u201d<\/p>\n