Our refs aren’t at top of their game, says Roache
Former referee Des Roache has lamented the lack of Scottish officials at this summer’s World Cup in North America.
But Roache, a former Category One whistler, admits he isn’t surprised by that omission after another testing campaign for home referees.
He told The Sunday Post: “Of course I’m disappointed. I was at the World Cup as a fan in 1998. I was 22.
“We want our team performing at the highest level, and we want our referees supporting them at the highest level, but am I surprised?
“No, because I don’t think we have any referees at this current moment in time who are considered capable by Fifa at this level – and that’s a sad indictment.”
A number of decisions dominated the discourse in the Scottish domestic season just finished, not least those towards the end of the Premiership campaign as Celtic overtook Hearts on the final day to secure their 56th league title.
Willie Collum, head of referee operations at the SFA, discusses contentious VAR decisions on a monthly Youtube show, while the Key Match Incident Panel regularly meets to review incidents from matches.
Collum and the KMI panel don’t always agree, however – with the refs’ chief backing the controversial decision to give Celtic a penalty against Motherwell for handball against Sam Nicholson, while the KMI panel disagreed with John Beaton’s post-var check decision.
While many fans voice their ire with VAR on social media, Roache believes the system isn’t necessarily the problem, pointing to an initially-disallowed Daizen Maeda goal in Celtic’s title-clinching win over Hearts.
He continued: “I don’t think that VAR is the problem, the issue is the people who are operating it, and how they’re being coached and educated to use it.
“We’ve seen in Celtic’s last league game against Hearts with the offside decision, assistant Dave Roome got it wrong, but match official Don Robertson called it right. Technology works. It’s how you’re being coached and applied to use it.”
Roache added that Scotland are employing a “lite” version of VAR when compared to that in England, where 42 cameras are used in games compared to up to a dozen north of the border, depending on the broadcast partner.
Roache said: “We have Var-lite. We do not have the correct process and the correct technology that everybody can see. I don’t think the same processes are applied here as in England.”
The former ref wants changes to the VAR process in the future, focusing on the “clear and obvious errors” part of its remit.
“I’d like to see a lot of things,” said Roache. “What I would like to see is that VAR solely get involved in clear and obvious errors and doesn’t step inside a referee’s opinion, because the referee is the sole arbiter in the game, they’re the ones who are there on the pitch.
“They should be making their own decisions, and it shouldn’t be overturned unless it’s glaringly obvious.”