Mykola Neseniuk: «The VAR system, like any other, can be a tool for abuse»

The famous Ukrainian journalist Mykola Neseniuk dedicated a post on Facebook to several aspects of refereeing in the Ukrainian championship matches.

Last week, a football club from Zhytomyr publicly and officially appealed to the leadership of Ukrainian football with a complaint about referees who did not award a penalty in the last minute of a match in Oleksandriya, thereby influencing the championship results.

For those who do not follow Zhytomyr football, I remind you that in the game that Zhytomyr’s «Polissia» lost 0:1, the team made only four attempts on goal throughout the match, of which only two were on target. Translating this statistic into familiar language, I would note that Zhytomyr had no chances to score. Only a penalty in the last minute could have saved them when the ball, flying in the opposite direction from the opponent's goal, accidentally hit the defender's forearm. However, the referees, who could have seen a foul here, did not do so.

I will make a small digression here. The video assistant referee system (VAR), like any other, can be a tool for abuse. With its help, a millimeter chance can be found to award or not award a goal, to determine whether there was an offside or not, to find a reason for a player's expulsion from the field. Or it can be not found, not determined, and not tracked.

I have no intention of blaming anyone for anything, but very often it seems that the powerful video electronics indeed help someone or the contrary. Last autumn, VAR helped «Polissia» «find» several penalties and gain a certain number of additional points. The team entered the ranks of leaders. But already in spring, VAR began to «look for» and «find» violations in favor of another team, «forgetting» about the team from Zhytomyr. The leaders of «Polissia» somehow did not dare to make statements against this team. And as a result, they dropped out of the prize-winning positions in the championship.

Now it’s not the same! Now it’s possible! I’m not sure that the idea of raising a fuss around the referees belongs to the owner of «Polissia». Most likely, it was suggested to him. And I even suspect who exactly did this.

Indeed, what to do when the crazy money, which the owner generously spent at the advice of his managers, where they asked, does not bring results? When statements about the Champions League are openly laughed at? When the team cannot make more than four attempts on the opposing goal in an hour and a half? Right! One should blame the referees! Moreover, loudly and publicly! Look, maybe one of our incorruptible referees will be afraid to make a decision that «Polissia» won’t like next time!

I repeat, this has all happened before. But with another, more powerful team, the owner of which no one wanted and still does not want to quarrel. That is why it worked. With «Polissia», the same unmistakable handwriting is clearly visible. Will it work? Hardly. With all due respect to the owner of the Zhytomyr team, he is not someone the referees would be afraid to annoy.

Mykola NESENIUK