Total clash over VAR: soccer world divides and controversy remains alive

The return leg of the Champions League playoff between Juventus and Galatasaray confirmed at the center of the football debate an increasingly hot topic, that of VAR and its regulation. The episode that involved, despite himself, Lloyd Kelly (controversial second caution turned into a disputed direct ejection) turned into yet another controversy about the functioning of the moviola on the field and the protocols that the referee and video assistants must follow before making a final decision.

The contact between Kelly (who had already been cautioned) and Yilmaz was initially assessed by the referee as a yellow card foul, prompting vibrant protests from the Bianconeri even then. The subsequent intervention of the VAR, motivated by the possibility that the infraction fell within the direct expulsion cases, led to a modification of the sanction. The current protocol allows for this dynamic: it does not provide for intervention on yellow cards, but allows for review when the episode can be configured as violent conduct or serious foul play.

Francesco Lucivero

This approach generates a zone of overlap between subjective assessment and correction thanks to the technological medium. The on-field referee, in fact, retains responsibility for the final decision, but VAR’s influence becomes decisive in cases where the threshold between “yellow” and “red” is not objective. The Turin match, in this sense, is part of a larger picture, characterized by the’increase in VAR interventions, the perceived reduction in the centrality of the on-field referee, and an’application of protocols that is not always linear.

In recent days Roberto Rosetti, former international referee and now chairman of the UEFA Referees’ Commission, had been categorical when speaking to La Gazzetta dello Sport: “Perhaps we have forgotten that VAR was created to correct clear and obvious errors” he had said, further fueling the debate about what, really, such errors were.

Rosetti had also announced a discussion table with the heads of the various European federations: “We will talk again with the federal designators. We must rediscover the original principles” his words, which have returned to relevance after what happened at the Stadium in the context of a controversy that shows no sign of subsiding.