Mark Halsey: “Refereeing isn’t a science, it’s an art.” Former Premier League referee shares his views on VAR.

29th April 2021 Callum Nixon Football 0
Reporting from BA Sports Journalism at the University of South Wales
Reporting from BA Sports Journalism at the University of South Wales

By Callum Nixon

AFTER a 24-year career officiating some of football’s biggest games, most notably the 2008 League Cup Final. Mark Halsey has shared his views on VAR technology in football and what he believes needs to change.

Mark, who now works with media channel ‘You are the Ref’ began his career playing non-league cricket and football with teams such as Cambridge City and Hertford Town, before becoming a professional referee in 1989. By 2000 Mark was promoted to the international panel of referees where he began to take charge of some of the biggest games in the Premier League and English football.

Talking to third year sports journalism student Callum Nixon, Mark shares his views on VAR technology and gives his opinion on what needs to be done with the technology to eradicate the ongoing debate surrounding VAR in football.

Where VAR can be improved upon

“VAR is not the problem.” These were Mark’s words when asked this question and he goes on to explain that he believes that the personal operating VAR on match days is where the real problem lies. It is said by the IFAB (International Football Association Board) that VAR should only be bought into play when a clear and obvious error has occurred on the field of play or there has been a serious issue missed by the on-field officials.

Mark goes on to say that some officials are trying to ‘re referee the game’ and says that more training and education for referees has to be set up by the PGMOL (Professional Game Match Officials Limited) as VAR is ‘all over the place at the moment.’

On where VAR itself can be improved, Mark says the very tight situations that VAR presents players, coaches and fans alike that the offside lines raise can be changed and improved. Mark says that if a VAR call takes more than 2 replays to decide than it should be a goal.

“Take away the lines and use the naked eye. We can all tell with one replay whether a player is offside or not and what’s imperative is the camera angles have to be parallel to the offside incident.”

Refereeing has changed massively as a result of VAR and it is almost a completely different profession from the one Mark spent 24 years of his life doing. As a result of this, Mark believes that top retired officials should be the ones operating VAR it’s Stockley Park HQ as well as the Premier League following the IFAB protocols.

Whilst Mark says there is a need for more training and education for referee’s in the Premier League when it comes to VAR, he doesn’t put all of the blame on our match officials. Mark highlights that the leadership, direction, training and management of our match officials needs to be improved.

Do the angles provided by VAR for review by on-field officials need to be improved?

We have seen in some VAR cases that replays being observed by referees are slowed down to provide the referee with the point of contact. Fans and pundits alike have said that these replays should be shown at regular speed arguing that everything looks worse than it actually is in slow-motion. Whilst Mark agrees that we don’t need to see every angle, he does say that if it is a serious foul play call the referee should be provided with every angle possible for the incident.

Mark uses the example of the Chelsea v West Ham United game where West Ham’s Balbuena was sent off for serious foul play after landing his foot on Chelsea’s Ben Chilwell after clearing the ball.

Whilst the FA did rescind the red card it led to calls of why VAR got involved and why the referee was shown only the point of contact and not the entire event. Mark goes on to explain,

“The fact they’ve looked at it 17,18 times you can find what you want to find out of a replay. You have to train the people operating VAR in order for them to know that isn’t a clear and obvious error.”

Will officials such as linemen become unnecessary in the higher leagues as a result of VAR?

Are referees in danger of losing their authority in football games?

With the introduction of VAR, it can be argued that referees are not the ones making the final decisions in games which should be the case. VAR has the luxury or the disadvantage depending on how you look at it of seeing multiple replays of on-field incidents. So, are they even the ones making the big decisions anymore? When asked this Mark replies with,

“No not really. Authority in games comes from respect from the players and respect comes with the accuracy of your decision making and the way you engage with the players and the way you talk with the players. For me, it’s vital that referees have that rapport with the players.”