According to the sports reporter of Tasnim news agency, the delayed match of the fifth week of the Premier League between Esteghlal and Persepolis football teams was held with the help of a video referee. As Derby 102 was the first domestic match to be played with VAR, opinions on it are many and varied. In the meantime, some critics of the derby referee’s performance, citing some global examples, wanted to broadcast his conversations with the assistant referee’s video room.
Khodadad Afsharian, the head of the judges’ committee, said that the conversations were not recorded, but if they were recorded, they would not be allowed to be published. Persepolis Club has also requested the publication of the conversations and threatened to take action through FIFA if no results are obtained.
In this case, FIFA has put a one-year trial decision on the agenda. According to this rule, at the same time as suspicious scenes are reviewed on the review screen, the referee’s voice is played for the spectators present and the audience of the receivers. Currently, considering the cultural issues and conditions of Iranian football, we went to two football referee experts to examine the conditions.
FIFA’s approach is to clarify conversations
Haider Soleimani Regarding the release of the referee’s conversations with the video assistant referee’s room during the review of the scenes, the refereeing expert stated: FIFA usually evaluates the rules first on a trial basis when they want to implement them. For example, video assistant referee technology was used for the first time as an experiment in the Club World Cup. After that, in the 2018 World Cup and more important matches, this technology was used, and VAR is used in all valid matches and leagues.
He added: Recently, after the Liverpool-Tottenham match, protests were announced against the referee’s decision. In England, for clarification, the referee’s conversations with the assistant referee’s room were released on video, and the referee realized his mistake. It is not illegal to publish video referee room conversations. The Football Association decides to publish the referee’s conversations in England, and in our country, the referees’ committee does this. As I saw in the news, Mr. Afsharian said that we did not record the conversations of the assistant referee’s room at all. I wish this did not happen. FIFA’s approach is to clarify the video assistant referee’s room conversations with the referee.
* The need for culture building and persuasion of public opinion
Referring to the continuation of the controversy surrounding the use of the video assistant referee, the refereeing expert said: It has been a few days since the derby, but the battle over the video assistant referee is still going on. For the future, we need two issues: persuasion of public opinion through transparency and correct culture. If the conversations of sensitive scenes are published and in line with that culture building is done for related groups (players, coaches, fans, etc.), these margins will not be created.
* They published fake and false news about me on social networks
Pointing to the bad consequences of the lack of transparency in the conversations between the referee and the video assistant referee, Soleimani clarified: I did not have any talk in any media or news agency about the conversations of the video assistant referee’s room with Mouad Fadifard. According to my words, they published false news on social networks. This made the referee of the derby contact me and follow up on the matter. As I said on the day of the derby, I reiterate that Omid Hamidifar should have been sent off after that tackle, but I didn’t say anything about the referee’s conversation. I must add that the referees in the video assistant referee’s room were not on the same level as the middle referee of the derby. They dragged the referee to the side of the goal line three or four times. By not accepting their decisions, Fanadifar actually showed this level difference more clearly.
* Conversations will definitely be recorded
Ali Dehghani Another football referee expert told Tasnim about the disclosure of the conversations of the assistant referee’s video room and the middle referee of the derby: the international custom is that the conversations of the video assistant referee’s room should not be broadcast in full, but these conversations must be recorded by the referee department and even the referee committee of FIFA. It can be used in the future for analysis, review, training, retraining and even modification of rules. For example, in the match between Portugal and Uruguay in the 2022 Qatar World Cup, which was refereed by Alireza Faghani, no tape of the conversation between the refereeing team and the VAR room was presented to the Uruguayan team, but it was cited and evaluated in the analysis and review sessions of the FIFA referees department.
He continued: Last year, FIFA added a law to the video referee in the FIFA Club World Cup in order to train referees, increase the level of refereeing knowledge of players, technical staff and persuade the opinions of spectators and audiences, which is only used in competitions such as World Cups held under the supervision of FIFA. It can be mandatory. This law says that after reviewing the scene on the screen on the side of the field, if the referee changes his decision, he must announce in the microphone that he carries and is connected directly to the stadium speakers, according to which of the rules he made the decision, but the referee’s conversations It will not be played with VAR referees at all. For example, in the under-17 World Cup match between Iran and Morocco, when the referee decided to repeat the penalty, he announced why this decision was made. Because the Moroccan goalkeeper had stepped forward before the penalty kick.
* Answers to two important questions
Dehghani reminded: I have to mention two important points about two major questions of public opinion. First of all, why was there no derby camera live in the VAR room like in all matches? The answer is that the video assistant referee’s room of the stadium still had the profiles of the Asian Champions League, and since Azadi Stadium might host Sepahan’s next match, it could not be changed in a short time, and on the other hand, the company that has a contract with the Asian Football Confederation It did not cover the derby match, and both companies could complain to the Football Federation.
He said: The second question is whether the conversation of the derby referees was not recorded? It is possible that due to the short time between the issuance of the license and the arrival of the device in the country, all the equipment of the device did not arrive in Iran, but if the conversations were also recorded, as long as it was based on a single FIFA license, it would not be possible to publish it on a public level. will not have
* Some talks are not beautiful for Iranian football
The refereeing expert stated about the need to create a culture regarding the use of video assistant referees: After the derby and the behaviors we witnessed on this issue, it seemed to me that we should do extensive culture building for the wider use of video assistant referees. Some of the talks about the non-stationing of Iraqi referees in the video assistant referee’s room are not at all good for Iranian football. FIFA has issued permission to hold this match with the help of a video referee. These false feedbacks discourage international companies that intend to help in this regard. According to the FIFA protocol, it is required that the video assistant referees, the system operator and the manufacturer of the video assistant referee write reports in the embedded form after the game and sign it. If these reports are distorted, FIFA will deal with this issue. With such margins, companies providing video assistant referees are discouraged from providing services to Iran.
* The national team’s protest harms the national team
Dehghani expressed concern about the problem of the national team in the Asian Nations Cup and said: some players of Esteghlal and Persepolis, such as Roozbe Cheshmi and Mohammad Hossein Kananizadegan, protested the decisions of the video assistant referee in the derby. At the same time as the scene is checked, if the players gather around the center referee, they can receive a yellow card according to the law. This issue can harm the national team in the Nations Cup. We have to accept that after the review of the scene by the referee, the decision to continue the game or a foul is announced, so protests and behaviors have no place.