Struggling with VAR
The special feature of the ASEAN Cup 2024 compared to previous tournaments is the appearance of VAR. 3 months before the tournament took place, the Southeast Asian Football Federation and the tournament organizers announced the application of VAR with unprecedented modern and professional operations, within the framework of regional football tournaments.
After 4 rounds of group stage matches, every time VAR "entered the game", sensitive situations that could lead to goals or penalties were all accurately decided. Particularly for the Vietnam team, VAR had more negative effects.
In the 4-1 victory over Laos in the opening match of the 2024 ASEAN Cup, the collision between Duy Manh and Bounphachan Bounkong (Laos) led to the penalty for Vietnam. If there was no signal from the VAR room located in... Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), the main referee at the Laos National Stadium might have given the Vietnamese player a goal kick. Finally, based on advice from the VAR assistants, the main referee reviewed the video before deciding on the penalty for the home team. At the 11-meter mark, Bounkong took advantage of the opportunity to score an honorary goal.
It is worth mentioning that 5 days later at Viet Tri Stadium (Phu Tho), VAR... "disappeared". Throughout the match between Vietnam and Indonesia, the main referee did not go to the VAR screen in the technical area to check the situation. Notably, at the end of the first half, Vietnam defender Ho Tan Tai was pushed down by Alfredo Tata of Indonesia in the penalty area and in a sensitive collision, VAR did not intervene. In the third match as a guest in the Philippines, VAR made the Vietnam team go from nervous, excited, disappointed to relieved. In the 9th minute of the match, defender Van Thanh fell in the Philippines penalty area after being impacted by Ugelvik, the main referee Akobir Shukrullaev pointed to the penalty spot. However, the VAR team intervened.
Mr. Shukrullaev received the signal to check the situation again by video. Based on the camera angles on the field and consulting with the assistants in the VAR room, the Uzbek referee decided not to give the Vietnamese team a chance at the 11 meter mark.
Also in this match, in the 7th minute of extra time in the second half, Doan Ngoc Tan scored the equalizer 1-1 for the Vietnam team. But Mr. Kim Sang-sik's students also had to hold their breath, listening to the exchange signal between Mr. Shukrullaev and the VAR room. Finally, everyone breathed a sigh of relief when the goal was recognized. The Vietnam team brought home 1 point after more than 90 minutes of hard work on the artificial turf field at Rizal Memorial.
Still have "sand grains"
Halfway through the 2024 ASEAN Cup, VAR has handled sensitive situations correctly every time it has been involved. However, the Thai media has also complained that VAR has taken up a significant amount of time, in the match where the Thais came back from a goal down to win 4-2 against Singapore on December 18.
In that match, the second half injury time was up to 10 minutes. The reason came from the situation in the 70th minute, the main referee Ismaeel Habib Ali recognized the goal for center back Pansa Hemviboon, but then "blow the whistle". Before making the final decision, this "man in black" took 3 minutes to review the VAR screen.
In the second minute of injury time, the referee also took another 5 minutes to determine the validity of another goal for Thailand, when Peeradon Chamratsamee scored against Singapore to make the score 3-2. Initially, the linesman called for offside. Then, VAR intervened, drew a line and confirmed that Peeradon was not at fault. Referee Ismaeel Habib Ali stood on the field for quite a while to listen to the analysis from the technical assistants.
“During the 5 minutes the referee stood on the field, the audience only saw him wearing a headset and saying something. No slow-motion replays were shown. The audience also felt funny and strange,” Thailand’s Daily News pointed out the “flaw” of VAR. However, VAR has had and is having positive and transparent impacts at the 2024 ASEAN Cup. Sensitive situations are clearly identified and decisions are made impartially to the referee team.
