How very UN-Australian football.
The fact the season re-commenced and finished is a credit to the FFA, clubs and more importantly the players. The resilience to spend upwards of two months away from friends, family and the comforts of home is nothing to belittle. Those of us stuck in stage 4 lockdown in the country’s greatest city can also add another layer of gratitude to the players, administrators, and club officials for providing something worth looking forward to every few days.
The logistics and planning involved in re-commencing the season was unprecedented and had no rule book to follow. Decisions were made on hubs, flights in and out of states, hotel accommodation and on re-negotiating TV deals and done so on the fly. Not all panned out exactly as planned, but that is beside the point. Australian football came together and got it done. As an outsider looking in it seems the game has been emboldened and re-invigorated by the change of leadership with James Johnson. Finally, we have encouraging leadership, examples of good governance and a collective show of support from the football community for the betterment of the game.
VAR was withdrawn, seemingly banished amidst uncertainty of grounds and costing upon the recommencement of the A-League post-COVID. Anecdotal evidence was rife that (combined with the cooler weather) the move prompted better decision making from our referees and a more open and flowing contest.
How very Australian football.
I am a firm believer that allegiances should be declared when articles such as this are written so it would be remiss of me to not mention that I’m a ten-year member of Melbourne Heart/City. That is upfront and not hidden.
I amongst many others applauded the decision to remove VAR from the remainder of the season. I questioned what effect this would have on the integrity of the game, ¾ of a season with VAR and ¼ without, but I supported the decision nonetheless as I feel strongly on the Australian use (or misuse) of VAR regardless.
To have VAR re-introduced for the finals was a dagger to the heart. It was a dagger for the very way it was used by the referee in the Grand Final. Since the establishment of VAR to fix old issues the game has been experiencing for hundreds of years, debate has raged incessantly and tirelessly over the new issues it has since created.
Old issues remain, the very nature of a sport where interpretation of the rules of the game exist ensures they always will remain. New issues however have now emerged, as introducing another referee with another lens of interpretation has created conflict. Conflict now reigns supreme as decisions are made not with the small re-assurance of finality, but rather with sheepish uncertainty and hope that re-assurance will come from another referee 10 seconds later.
This sheepish uncertainty has now developed to the point where the definition of clear and obvious error has been blown to smithereens. The introduction of VAR to abolish the clear and obvious error remains the goal of all football powerbrokers and rule makers. Like a first XI team sheet on paper that can’t lose, but does when the match is played, this goal is seemingly out of reach.
Using the specific example of the VAR use in the A-League Grand Final, the issues it presents are glaring. Lachie Wales is standing in an off-side position, in amongst 3 other Sydney FC players standing 10 yards in front of Andrew Redmayne. Lachie Wales isn’t stationary and is moving to his right as the ball is struck by Harrison Delridge, who is shooting from outside the box. The ball travels through a pack of players and beats Redmayne, and Melbourne City are celebrating. The unbridled joy of a goal in football is a sensation not often known by other sporting codes whose saturation of scoring diminish the feeling of scoring a goal.
The facts above are clear, they aren’t arguable. What is arguable is their interpretation. The interpretation initially by the officials was to award the goal. In the absence of a POV camera affixed to Andrew Redmayne’s forehead, we are none the wiser as to whether Lachie Wales was directly interfering with his line of vision and thus interfering with play. What we were presented with instead was a series of camera angles that did not in any way, shape, or form accurately and beyond any doubt prove that the decision made was a “clear and obvious error,” thus compelling the use of VAR to intervene and overrule.
Chris Beath took it upon himself to seize the moment and detract from what was a compelling contest and overturn the decision. On reflection I am sure he will recognise the value of officials aiding the spectacle and not becoming the spectacle. Talk should have been about the unlikely first goal scorer Harrison Delbridge and not the referee overturning a decision through VAR.
On review it is inconceivable that the initial decision to award the goal be deemed a clear and obvious error and so should have been correctly overturned. When Rhyan Grant scored the winner in unlikely fashion late in the game, he raised his shirt and covered his head with his jersey. A clear and obvious error to not show a second yellow card? Not at all in my opinion. Even though the refereeing group missed this initially, to not feel the occasion of the game and have VAR intervene to issue a second yellow and then send off Grant in the first period of extra time would be a callous misuse of VAR. This feel of the game unfortunately was not displayed when Lachie Wales was adjudged to be interfering with play. The inconsistency therefore in the use of VAR is deeply troubling and disconcerting. Dare I even say heart-breaking for some.
While I’m proud of the way Melbourne City relocated for over two months away from family, friends and fans to play in the home city of the eventual champions, the bitterness of not being comprehensively beaten remains. I hope the game uses the last two months as an example of how we can flourish in the winter months and without VAR and push forward into a brighter future.
Just as I hope Melbourne City can return to the big dance next season, but this time finally go one better.
Chris Dounias @cdounias on Twitter
The Beautiful Game 