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Commentary: Football’s VAR is a lesson in flawed technology

LONDON: When the Cameroonian striker Vincent Aboubakar extravagantly scooped the football over the head of the Serbian goalkeeper into the back of the net, he thought he was offside. More importantly, so did the linesman.

Aboubakar’s celebrations only kicked off when the video assistant referee suggested otherwise, helping Cameroon stage a thrilling comeback in their World Cup match in Qatar on Monday (Nov 28).

Before the introduction of the video assistant referee (VAR), Aboubakar’s goal would not have been allowed. Had it been in operation in Mexico in 1986, VAR would surely have ruled out Diego Maradona’s infamous “hand of God” goal against England, when the Argentine punched the ball over the line.

On such decisions, made and unmade, hang footballing destinies, national mythologies and the emotions of millions of sports fans around the world.

At the latest World Cup, the football has been engrossing. But the matches should also interest anyone involved in designing or delivering a technology service.

The use of video assistance technology provides an intriguing case study of how difficult it can be to achieve optimal product-market fit in a highly pressured environment that matters hugely to millions of fanatical followers.

Technology may well deliver increased accuracy, but at what cost? Traditionalists complain that VAR has put the sport’s values at risk by wasting time, undermining the agency of on-field referees and adding new, and different, dimensions of controversy.

The use of VAR was first codified in football’s official laws in 2018 and the technology was rolled out at the world cup in Russia later that year.

Off-field referees monitoring multiple video feeds were made responsible for identifying “clear and obvious”

Read more on channelnewsasia.com