"Video Assistant Referees will help us," says under-fire referee William Agbovi

Published on: 04 July 2017
"Video Assistant Referees will help us," says under-fire referee William Agbovi
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Refereeing sure is a thankless job and a football referee is often painted as the pantomime villain when things have gone south.

Despite the high standards and benchmarks that they set, there are bound to be mistakes as it is to err is human.

Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA) is keen on  implementing the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) to the game after introducing it in the just ended FIFA Confederations Cup staged in Russia.

It’s usage left scores of football loving fans speaking against that implementation of the Video Assistant Referee but one of Ghana most experienced referees, William Agbovi has backed the decision saying  it’s a good initiative from FIFA.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Happy FM, Referee William Agbovi, who was chastised for his performance in the 2017 President's Cup game between Asante Kotoko and Hearts of Oak on Monday, revealed that there are advantages and disadvantages in that initiative but thinks it is a good initiative.

“The Video Assistant Referee has advantages and disadvantages. It helps you to take a good decisions including penalty calls. In difficult situations, you can consult before you take the decision so in think it will help a lot.” Agbovi told Happy FM.

“But the disadvantage is that, it will slow down the game and it will consume more time but apart from these, I think it is a good initiative and I will support FIFA to implement it.” He added.

The VAR is a panel of two or three top level referees, who will operate from within the stadium and will have access to broadcast feeds. They can then communicate with the on-field referee with regard to goals, penalty decisions, red card incidents and mistaken identity. The VAR will intervene only if the video review will show a "clear match changing error." The on-field referee can then review it on a monitor, placed pitch side, and then take the final decision.

@Reuben Obodai17/[email protected]

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