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PSSI member resists VAR despite go ahead from experts
A member of the Soccer Association of Indonesia’s (PSSI) executive committee has said he is skeptical about a plan to introduce the video assistance referee (VAR) system to Indonesian soccer, citing a high level of disobedience over referee decisions as a major problem that needs to be addressed first
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span>A member of the Soccer Association of Indonesia’s (PSSI) executive committee has said he is skeptical about a plan to introduce the video assistance referee (VAR) system to Indonesian soccer, citing a high level of disobedience over referee decisions as a major problem that needs to be addressed first.
However, a sports scientist questioned the stance and urged the country to tackle both issues simultaneously by implementing VAR in the immediate future while also improving the quality and integrity of referees so that their decisions would be respected instead of protested.
“The association is going to meet with a technical delegate from FIFA to discuss the possibility of implementing VAR here soon. I don’t have anything against the system, but fixing existing problems, like managing reactions to referee decisions, is more pressing right now,” PSSI executive committee member Gusti Randa told The Jakarta Post recently.
“We hear too often about referees being insulted and beaten by dissatisfied persons during matches. This is horrible and deserves our attention.”
He said it was important for referees to undergo training, both local and abroad, to improve their quality. As such, introducing VAR would be counterproductive, he argued.
The PSSI has been working together with England’s Football Association over three main concerns: youth development, coaching education and referee management and development.
Gusti added that VAR was not without its flaws, citing a recent English Premier League match between Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur that ended 2-2 as an example of the system creating controversy.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola criticized the VAR system for lacking consistency after City forward Gabriel Jesus had his goal annulled in the final seconds of injury time after it was found that City defender Aymeric Laporte had committed a handball prior to the goal.
Soccer commentator Akmal Marhali previously conceded that referees in Indonesia faced hostile environments, citing scores of violent acts against referees.
However, much of the hostility, he explained, was a reaction to referees’ lack of integrity in the decision-making process.
“The public’s suspicion over referee integrity is still high and that often becomes the source of the violence,” Akmal said on his Instagram account as quoted by kumparan.com.
A sports scientist from Yogyakarta State University, Joko Pekik Irianto, urged the PSSI to catch up to the world’s latest monitoring systems, saying that the PSSI had no reason to hide and no reason to stall the introduction of VAR in Indonesian soccer.
“We have widely observed and witnessed how the VAR system has contributed to the improvement of referee decisions worldwide. Many world-class soccer leagues have also been deploying it. Thus, we would appreciate it if the PSSI would just catch up,” he said.
At the same time, Joko acknowledged that referees in the country needed training, and therefore, referee development also needed to be on top of the PSSI’s to-do list.
While waiting for referee development programs to produce results, the PSSI could implement the VAR system in a restricted manner, such as for Liga 1 matches only at first, he said.
“The matches of Liga 1 are under close scrutiny. With so many eyes watching, it would be easier to conduct corrective actions should there be any decisions by referees that lack integrity,” he said.
