Clattenberg: “Referees avoid making the decision because they know technology will help them”

Interview at BBC Radio granted the former English referee and former president of the KED in our country, Mark Clattenbergtalking about VAR and expressing the opinion that it creates more tension in the ranks of football players, during matches.

After pointing out that many referees do not work in a safe environment, he added that this will lead to their gradual withdrawal from football, while also taking a stand on the referee’s beating in Turkey by the president of Ankaragucu.

In detail what he said:

“The problem now is that the players don’t trust the system. Most of the time, referees avoid making the decision directly because they know that technology will help them. But then the question arises, do VARs get the right decision every time? Sometimes yes, sometimes not, and this is something that creates tension in the ranks of the players, who are very stressed chasing the result and take out their anger on the referee.

Referees must be empowered to do their job in a safe environment. If this is not the case, many referees will leave the field of football and without them the sport cannot exist. I never had a problem with the footballers protesting, because most of the time they respected my decision. I think VAR has created more tension for the players because they don’t know if the decision will be for or against them.”

On the incident with the beating of the referee in Turkey by the president of Ankaragucu: “To see something like this is horrible. He is an international referee who has refereed many games in Turkey. Even if the referee has made a mistake, there should not be such a reaction. For me, all this was a setback for football, not only in Turkey, but also worldwide.”.