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Reaction after Real Madrid’s controversial win against Bayern Munich- Is video refereeing needed?

By Christopher Godfrey

MUNICH, GERMANY - APRIL 12: Coach of Real Madrid Zinedine Zidane greets Karim Benzema when he's replaced during the UEFA Champions League Quarter Final first leg match between FC Bayern Muenchen (Bayern Munich) and Real Madrid CF at Allianz Arena on April 12, 2017 in Munich, Germany. (Photo by Jean Catuffe/Getty Images)
MUNICH, GERMANY - APRIL 12: Coach of Real Madrid Zinedine Zidane greets Karim Benzema when he's replaced during the UEFA Champions League Quarter Final first leg match between FC Bayern Muenchen (Bayern Munich) and Real Madrid CF at Allianz Arena on April 12, 2017 in Munich, Germany. (Photo by Jean Catuffe/Getty Images) /
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Real Madrid beat Bayern Munch in the second leg of the Champions League Quarterfinal 4-2 but Bayern Munich should justifiably feel robbed, Is video refereeing needed?

Controversial decisions from the referees in the Champions League match including a wrongful second yellow card for Bayern Munich midfielder Arturo Vidal and two offside goals have raised the case for video refereeing.

Additionally, Casemiro should’ve had a second yellow card on multiple occasions including conceding a penalty, simulating a dive for a penalty and a reckless tackle on Arjen Robben.

That’s about four decisions the referees got wrong on the night which led to the Real Madrid victory. Bayern Munich should feel very hard done by.

After the game, the usually calm and cool Bayern Munich manager Carlo Ancelotti was blunt and rightfully angry about the refereeing.

"“The referee had a bad game. Full stop. He was worse than our performance.”"

Ancelotti also responded to the two offside goals from Ronaldo as being “unbelievable”.

Seething after the game, Ancelotti also made the case for video refereeing.

"“I hope that really soon in the future the referee can be helped by TV. These sort of mistakes shouldn’t be possible in the quarterfinal of the Champions League.“In the quarterfinals you must be a referee with more quality or VAR as there are too many mistakes. Arturo deserved the first yellow, but the second yellow was a mistake by the referee.”“The red card was the killer. It wasn’t even a foul. The team is distraught, the referee made some curious mistakes.”"

Arturo Vidal, who was sent off in the second half also reflected on the decision.

"“It is very tough when they steal a game from you like that — two goals offside and me wrongly sent off. When two big teams meet like this in the Champions League, such a robbery cannot happen."

Captain Phillip Lahm also stated that they didn’t have any luck with the refereeing decisions.

This  was a Champions League quarterfinal, a match that teams work for and prepare for months and the match outcome was decided in the end by dodgy refereeing.

This is just not good enough. It is a blight on the game and it completely defeats the purpose of playing these matches if the referees decide the outcome in the end.

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Bayern Munich were extremely unlucky as they were getting back into the game before the second yellow card for Vidal. The sending off was from a tackle where Vidal clearly made contact with the ball. I also don’t know what Casemiro did to stay on the pitch as multiple times the Real Madrid midfielder should’ve been sent off.

These decisions do not do any favors for FIfa’s reputation as being a bit dodgy. Various Fifa officials have been found guilty of being corrupt in the past. I’m not saying that the result was predetermined by Fifa, but bad refereeing like this can lead people to think that these games are often decided beforehand by the Fifa hierarchy. I’m not one of those who think this, but Video refereeing is badly needed to restore trust from football fans and players alike in Fifa.

Some argue that video refereeing (VARS) could slow down the ‘flow of the game’ and remove the spectacle of when a player scores a goal. I’m not one of those. At the moment, video refereeing is being trialed in international friendlies. And from the France- Spain game recently, two decisions were decided by video referee and it took about 10 seconds for each. The result in the end was in no doubt.

It looks as if Video assistants will be introduced in the FA Cup next season and in some of Europe’s top leagues including the German Bundesliga. Hopefully, it will soon be introduced everywhere in all the top leagues- including the Champions League. Yes it will cost a bit of money for Fifa, but in the end it will restore faith and trust in the organisation that’s been marred with corrupt claims in the past.

Video referees will eliminate human mistakes and it also remove any doubt of a referee being ‘biased’ or corrupt.

VARS (Video assistant referees) will assess only events that can change the outcome of the game such as- Red cards, penalties, goals and cases of mistaken identity.

It will not disrupt the flow of the game in any way and it will make it better.

VARS are already regularly used in Rugby and American Football for when a player scores a try or touchdown. And, in rugby it takes a lot longer to determine if it’s a try or not as often several players can be lying on top of the ball and several camera angles is often needed along with 2-3 minutes of decision time. This won’t happen in football. It takes about 10 seconds to see if a player is offside or if a player deserves a red card.

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This is an easy decision for FIfa- if they want to restore credibility in the game, particularly after the disastrous and embarrassing refereeing in such a huge match on the world stage. Fifa need to act quickly to restore any faith and trust in the beautiful game.

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