BOBBY Madden believes Scottish football not having VAR damages the credibility of the Premiership as he revealed the country’s top pfficials held showdown talks last week with the game’s bosses about the lack of video technology.
Madden, Willie Collum and Kevin Clancy, chairman of the Scottish Senior Football Referees Association (SSFRA), told the SFA and SPFL of their concern that Scotland is being left behind because VAR hasn’t been introduced - and there is no clear sign that it will be.
It would cost up to £5000 a match to have Video Assistant Referees at Scottish grounds, which for the moment means Madden and his colleagues don’t have the back-up which English football, and many more countries, will have from this season.
And while the system is controversial and has many critics, the SSFRA looked for assurances that steps have been taken for VAR to be brought in sooner rather than later.
Madden said: “Myself and Willie Collum and Kevin Clancy (current SSFRA chairman) met with the league and the SFA just last week to discuss where we are.
“It was a very open chat and the SFA and SPFL have their own priorities and need to see where this sits. The biggest issue comes down to funding. The SFA have taken that first step of declaring a note of interest to IFAB (International Football Association Board.) Then there is a process to follow.
“So, there are discussions there as to who will fund it, will it be the league or the SFA? How will the training be framed, given it’s extensive training involved?
“I had 16 away days in Europe plus a full week to be IFAB approved to referee and act as a VAR. There is all that work to be done and as much as we are doing work to investigate will it be financed, I think there is a lot we can do as a referee movement to start working in the background.
“For me, the biggest thing is just the credibility of the league. I mentioned at the end of last season that VAR is being used in countries like Malta and Georgia.
“And if you are sitting at home flicking between English, Spanish and German football with VAR then flick to Scottish football and you see a clear mistake where you think VAR will fix it and we don’t have it then it affects the credibility of the league.”
Madden revealed that the refereeing fraternity have grown impatient waiting for the SFA and SPFL to give VAR the go-ahead.
The FIFA referee said: “We would start it immediately. Me and Willie Collum are the only two currently trained (in VAR) but there is a process where we need to look at resources, a training plan and build a project around that.
“The sooner we start it the better for the refeeing movement, but I understand for the SFA and the SPFL the big discussion is, ‘who is going to pay for this?’ There is a cost in terms of what supplier are you going to use? Then there are additional costs for match officials and essentially that money is going to come from the clubs.
“From talking to other referees around Europe that can be anything from £3000 to £5000 for every game. The first thing that has to happen is to establish the true cost for Scotland and take things from there.”
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