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Showing posts from August, 2019

on VAR and technology in football

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“Don’t blame VAR, blame the rule” - Jamie Carragher, analysing Ayemeric Laporte’s handball after Manchester City’s draw to Tottenham in August, 2019 Carragher’s comments referred to the change in the handball rule this summer: any accidental handball involved in the creation of a goal would now result in the goal being disallowed. Accidental handballs were not automatically punished before this. The rule change followed a series of controversial incidents in Europe the season before, when VAR (video assistant referee) had been used to award handballs that were not only accidental, but barely noticeable to the naked eye. When PSG met Manchester United in the second round of the Champions League, the referees inside the VAR shed outside the stadium watching multiple replays of every incident on multiple screens, saw something barely anyone on the pitch managed to catch. Marcus Rashford hammered a shot into Presnel Kimpembe’s arm from point-blank range, initially resulting in a