A&H

World Cup Aus Vs ITA

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Been watching this game. Every time there is an offside and a promising attack the AR keeps the flag down. Looks very untidy and farcical. The protocol says

"if a player is within the penalty area and about to score and there is real doubt about offside (position or offence) delaying the flag signal ... "

There has been at least five and only one fit the protocol criteria.
 
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I agree it looks 'untidy'. UEFA and FIFA do it this way.

I believe the flag should be raised immediately and the referee should decide whether to delay their whistle or not.
 
Remember that this is in all likelihood this was the first match the center and AR1 have ever used VAR in their entire career. She hasn't had the feed back about these situations where holding the flag was inappropriate.
 
I agree it looks 'untidy'. UEFA and FIFA do it this way.

I believe the flag should be raised immediately and the referee should decide whether to delay their whistle or not.

Can’t do it that way. AR needs to be in position for subsequent calls. But as @pne notes, it isn’t every call that is supposed to be handled this way, only ones where there is both a close call and a promising attack. The delay is a new skill set, which (as @cwyeary noted) most of these ARs are being asked to do for the first time. Did it get better in the second half of the game?

(I don’t know if the training for Rs permits them to decide there is no promising attack and call before the flag—the AR should be saying “delay” into the com system, so the R would know the AR has concluded OS. But that would certainly look strange.)
 
Can’t do it that way. AR needs to be in position for subsequent calls.

I see the logic but the AR doesn't really need to judge subsequent decisions because if a goal is not scored, the restart will be for the offside, and if a goal is scored, VAR will check subsequent decisions just as normal.

Premier League ARs will raise the flag immediately next season.
 
Remember that the first games of the World Cup last year were exactly the same.

A lot of these ARs (just like last year) haven't worked much (if at all) with VAR. They're taking the directive to an extreme, and I fully expect that you'll see that reined in before the end of the group stage as they get more used to VAR and the practices.
 
It used to be the American who did things different to everyone else. Is it the English now? :)
 
I see the logic but the AR doesn't really need to judge subsequent decisions because if a goal is not scored, the restart will be for the offside, and if a goal is scored, VAR will check subsequent decisions just as normal.

Premier League ARs will raise the flag immediately next season.
What makes you say that? The only guidance I've seen given to PL officials is to try and use the OFR's as little as possible, I don't recall reading anything about AR's being told to ignore FIFA directives?
 
What makes you say that? The only guidance I've seen given to PL officials is to try and use the OFR's as little as possible, I don't recall reading anything about AR's being told to ignore FIFA directives?

They will follow directives from the governing body of the competition; in this case, the FA.
 
They will follow directives from the governing body of the competition; in this case, the FA.
And the FA will write those directives as guided by IFAB/FIFA, unless they have a specific reason not to. So again, I have to ask what you've read that says they will deviate....unless you're just guessing?
 
They will follow directives from the governing body of the competition; in this case, the FA.
No they won't - and they can't. There is only one VAR protocol, the one written by the IFAB. No competition can use VAR unless they follow the protocol in its entirety. The FA cannot give directives that are contrary to the universally-applied protocol.They can say they are hoping for fewer OFR's but again, the can't go against the protocol or they won't be given permission to use VAR.

Here is the official policy wording from the IFAB:
National FAs and competitions are only permitted to take part in experiments (or use VARs) with the permission of the IFAB. Permission will only be granted where the IFAB protocols will be used in full and the IFAB’s referee-VAR education and technical requirements have been fulfilled: ‘one protocol – used by all.’
 
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The only tolerable implementation of VAR i've seen, has been that crafted by the FA
The OFR process is pathetic, so our practice of using it as little as possible has been welcome. Not sure we've come up with a solution for the 'ball boy with a flag' problem yet
 
Sorry guys, I've been giving you wrong information. It looks like Premier League ARs will delay the flag.

I got confused because ARs in the FA cup have not been delaying their flag when VAR is in operation. I wrongly assumed nothing will change for the Premier League. Again, apologies for confusing some of you.

My latest information comes from this BBC Sport article from December 2018:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/amp/football/46357035
 
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Its pretty normal for ARs getting used to VR to struggle to delay, as it is contrary to years/decades of muscle memory. Interestingly, we're seeing the flip side of that in the WWC, as they are trying so hard not to flag early when they should delay that many ARs are consistently delaying when they should not be.
 
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