Manchester United defender Harry Maguire has suggested that the Premier League keep VAR for offside calls. He believes that the scrapping of the technology as a whole would not be ideal as the officials do make mistakes in the game.
Speaking to The Sun, Maguire stated he is not happy with the use of VAR for penalties and red cards. He added that the offsides also need to be automated as it would make things quicker.
He said:
“I think it is going to divide opinion and a lot of people will want to keep it. Equally, the popular thing at the moment is to say get rid of it. It probably does need to be done better. The automated offsides are coming in next season and that will improve it. It will make things quicker. Personally, I would keep VAR but for offsides only. I would scrap it for everything that is opinion based. Offsides are factual and not subjective.”
Maguire stated that it had become increasingly tough on players as they had to hold their celebrations for goals. He believes red cards and penalties are subjective, and hence VAR should not be used for it. He added:
“It is so difficult to lose a game on an offside goal when a player is two or three yards offside. Everyone makes mistakes, linesmen make mistakes, so that is why I would keep VAR for that. But I would not have it for red cards, or penalties because even now, people disagree if a decision is right or wrong.”
Harry Maguire claims player are not in favor of VAR
Harry Maguire was quizzed if the players were in favor of VAR and he was quick to dismiss it. He claimed that some wanted to get rid of it asap and told The Sun:
“Some players want to get rid of it. VAR offsides do kill goal celebrations a bit. In the back of your mind, players think whether or not it is a goal. For sure, I don’t want to see penalties decided by VAR – just let the referee make the decision. There have been far too many soft penalties this season. Penalties decide football matches and are such an important part of the game.”
He added:
“Obviously, I am a defender and I would say that. Strikers might say they want soft penalties. For me. I don’t want to see soft penalties win football matches. It should be a clear and obvious penalty. It is the same with the red cards – let the referee decide. We want our game to be a contact sport. We want the game to be aggressive. We want people to feel they can go in for hard challenges which are fair and not dangerous.”
Wolverhampton have sent a letter to the Premier League calling for the scrapping of VAR from next season. The official move has triggered a vote next month at Premier League’s AGM.
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