Almost three years after the introduction of VAR technology on football fields, the technology is still being discussed among football enthusiasts. While the best-of-breed video technology is lauded by many, there are others who don’t like the technology and question how efficient it really is, saying it slows down the game.
A recent study also claims that the technology is insufficient to give definitive results. The researchers note that VAR technology is currently not accurate enough to make accurate offside decisions in football, partly because of the way people perceive data.
Leading the research, Dr. “While VAR can be useful for finding a variety of obvious faults, the referee should not be completely relied upon to make his decisions,” says Pooya Soltani.
With the use of cameras at various points on the pitch, VAR technology helps review recordings and resolve some controversial positions with a small break during the match. Of course, these small breaks, as they are not normally in football, can cause the game to slow down a bit and stop.
In the new study, Dr. Soltani recorded a soccer player’s pass from a friend from various camera angles, while recording the 3D positions of the ball and the player with optical motion recording cameras.
Participants watching these recordings were asked to identify the moment the ball went off the foot and to say whether the position was offside.
What the study found was that participants thought the ball would leave their feet, on average, 132 milliseconds later than with optical motion cameras.
It was also found that participants made more accurate decisions when the motion was at 0 and 90 degrees and with VAR guide lines.
Dr. While Soltani says that VAR is really useful in helping referees make the right decision, he states that it has definite limitations. He also emphasizes that sometimes the frame rate and resolution of the cameras used for VAR are not enough for fast movements and the players or the ball can be blurry. Therefore, spectators may need to interpret the moment the ball goes off their feet according to their own view, which can change whether a position is offside or not.
Stating that he is aware that 132 milliseconds does not seem very big, Dr. Soltani emphasizes that in such a fast game, this time is enough for very important changes in player positions.
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