MARADONA BACKS VAR USE IN FOOTBALL
Argentina soccer legend Diego Maradona has called for the widespread use of the Video Assistant Referee (VARs) in modern football.
He admits that his famous ‘Hand of God’ goal would have been ruled invalid if the technology was in play in his time.
The goal in 1986 happened when the South Americans clashed with England. Maradona jumped and tapped the ball over the onrushing goalkeeper Peter Shilton to help Argentina to a 2-1 win in the quarter final stage.
“Obviously I think about it whenever I show my support for the use of technology. I thought about it and sure that goal wouldn’t have stood if technology had been around. And I’ll tell you something else: at the 1990 World Cup I used my hand to clear the ball off the lone against the Soviet Union,” the diminutive veteran said.
World soccer regulatory body FIFA has tested the VAR technology several times, including the recently completed Confederations Cup.
The technology is set to be refined ahead of its application in the FIFA World Cup in 2018. Soccer law making body International Football Association Board (IFAB) is set to rule in March 2018 if the VAR technology would be employed at the World Cup. The current system involves two referees who monitor a screen and notify the centre referee of decisions that help him/her avoid officiating errors.
Maradona argued that the rate at which technology is advancing and its wide applications in other sports makes it imperative that football follows that path. He cited the disallowed goal of Frank Lampard against Germany at the 2010 World Cup and the controversial Geoff Hurst 1966 goal as instances where technology could have helped. He dismissed the criticisms against the system like time wasting, unnaturalness and ref bias on when to use it.