VAR reaction ‘over the top’ as refs step down

Northern Ireland Football League [NIFL] chief executive Gerard Lawlor says some of the reaction to the planned introduction of video assistant referee (VAR) technology for the forthcoming BetMcLean Cup final has been “over the top”.

His comments came in the aftermath of two referees stepping down from officiating at Premiership matches this weekend, with the confirmation of the use of technology at next month’s decider between Linfield and Glentoran at Windsor Park understood to be a contributory factor in those decisions.

Shane Andrews had been scheduled to officiate at Saturday’s Mid Ulster derby between Glenavon and Portadown at Mourneview Park, while Tony Clarke was to take charge of Sunday’s league encounter between Cliftonville and Linfield at Solitude.

On Friday, NIFL confirmed the landmark decision that the technology would be used for the first time in domestic football in Northern Ireland at the BetMcLean final on 15 March.

While the game will be officiated by Irish FA match officials, VAR operations will be managed by referees from outside of Northern Ireland using the Hawk-Eye system.

“The reaction in my opinion has been over the top. There has been abuse, threats and anonymous twitter accounts set up by people and calling for my resignation,” said Lawlor on BBC Radio Ulster’s Sportsound programme.

“This is a game of football and if there was a major mistake in the final and people knew we had the ability to bring VAR in for free and without a charge to the league, those people would be criticising me for not doing it.

The NIFL chief indicated that he was aware of some discontent among some referees following the decision to employ VAR for the cup final.

Lawlor explained that training could be provided for referees who were not presently trained to use VAR, adding that Louise Thompson, Jamie Robinson and Ben McMaster were the only three suitably qualified to use the system at present.

“Some of their referees spoke to me yesterday [Friday] about this closing off for them the opportunity to do finals.

“But if more people need trained to get opportunities that can be easily fixed. This is just a first step in the water and we just have to get them trained up for the future.”

Lawlor also explained some of the reasoning for employing VAR at next month’s ‘Big Two’ final.

“In this particular fixture the opportunity arose due to the presence of the cameras and the camera set-up in the ground, the availability and the offer of support from other countries of VAR and assistant VARs, plus a commercial agreement in place so that there is no cost to us as a league and no cost to the club.

“I believe it’s a valuable experience for our referee team and for these two clubs who hopefully will be making progress in Europe next year. When we put all of that together we thought here is a valuable opportunity.

“We have always said we will always use technology to help and support our referees where possible.