Foreign footballThe game was stopped for no less than seven minutes in the match between Standard and OH Leuven. The VAR needed that time to perceive Dragus’ offside – a shoulder – via the new 3D technology.
Two minutes after making it 2-0, Denis Dragus scored again. However, the linesman flagged for offside, ref Kevin Van Damme signaled that the VAR was going to investigate the phase. Through the new 3D technology. One minute, two, three. First grumbling, then booing in the stands. Players contacted the ref, who indicated that he could not do anything about the delay and had to wait for the verdict of the men in Tubize.
However, it lasted. The cheers in the stands went crescendo, players threw their legs loose or sprinted. After seven minutes the verdict fell: offside. Players grinned, half of the stands laughed mockingly, the other half whooped. The delay also added ten minutes of extra time – during which the improbable happened.
“There will be less discussion, but sometimes everyone will have to be a little more patient,” said Stephanie Forde, Operations Director at the Referee Department, announcing the 3D helpline in late September.
Coaches cancel long VAR interruption
Coaches Luka Elsner of Standard and Marc Brys of OHL were unhappy about the long hiatus. “At that time we were leading 2-0 and we had the match firmly in our hands, but that long interruption took my players out of their concentration and their flow,” said Elsner. “In the end, we lost two more points. That’s a fact, but I certainly don’t want to use it as an excuse. My players should have kept the same focus and kept focused, seven minutes break or not.”
Denis Dragus, whose goal was disallowed, put it this way: “If watching seven minutes of footage doesn’t tell us whether a goal is offside or not, the advantage should be given to the goalscorer.”
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