“Peruvian referees have an amazing ability to act without judgment. The VAR is only an advisor”

Goal. Gooooool. Great goal.

I still remember the discussions that broke out. Renowned journalists, some very dear friends, ardently defended the legality of something done by cheating. Had the VAR been used, the referee Andrés Cunha would have gotten rid of the paper of his life and Peru avoided one of the very few victories achieved over the yellow-green.

There are countless controversial situations that the video arbitration system could have resolved in the history of football: Hurst’s goal against the Germans in the 1966 final, Balán Gonzales’s header against Colo Colo in the 1991 Libertadores, Trauco’s shot against the Uruguayans in the last tie, the handball of Brazilian Tulio against Argentina in the 1995 Copa América or Vallejo’s uncollected penalty in Matute. Technology is called upon to cover the shortcomings of the human eye in soccer, so akin to controversies over extreme situations and take these straws from me. Is the arrival of VAR in League 1 good news, then? Allow me the pessimism.

VAR is helpful. A counselor. A kind of bounded Big Brother who sees everything, watches everything and, with that wealth of information, suggests. He doesn’t command. Who decides is the central referee. Will the horrors we see every week come to an end then? Will we say goodbye to uncollected offsides, invented penalties, phantom tripping, the spectacular romps worthy of an Oscar?

There is no league where arbitration is not criticized. However, very few can exhibit errors as gross as ours. Are those same judges who look to the side behind a fierce iron, hide the cards for no reason or see penalties where there are only dives, will they be the same ones who will decide?

– Is the evidence of the image not enough to avoid these misunderstandings?

Our referees have serious training problems and an amazing ability to act without judgment. As long as these key points are not resolved, the situation will hardly improve. Technology is a great help, but it is just that: a help.

The usual eyes -those that look the other way- will be the ones that will decide.

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