“Shots” Karapapa against KED for the operation and contracts of VAR

At its meeting Professional Football Committee of the EPOhis vice president OlympiakouKostas Karapapas, expressed a series of questions and objections about the operation of VAR in Greece, leaving clear pointers on the role of the VAR (about who is responsible VAR and whether they are certified)but also for the contracts which were signed.

As he mentioned, the contract was part of the program “Digital transformation of Greek Football with modern ICT Digital Media (VAR)” and was implemented by government order. At the time, the government had also taken over the cost of the contract amounting to 13,454,000 euros, a contract that he himself he considers it to be extremely expensive by the standards of European footballif one calculates that countries with a long tradition and a developed football economy (e.g. Italy) agreed to about half the money for their own systems.

Afterwards, Mr. Karapapas stated that “at the time of the signing government intervention had saved the system, as at the time both the EPO and the League appeared unwilling to undertake the cost of installing and running VAR and its introduction into Greek football was sold as government interest in its shaky credibility».

The vice-president of the “red and white” PAE also stated that “… they all understood after years that depending on the operator VAR can destroy and not heal! I remember at the beginning some paid parrots mocked me and said ‘now Olympiacos and Karapapas are also questioning technology’. Of course, we also question it when it is managed by someone who is incapable or has the intention of corrupting it. Whether VAR has helped as much as we expected or not should enter our conversation like football».

He then quoted a series of questions, which, as he pointed out, must be answered immediately in view of the start of the playoffs. These, as he said, are:

“A. In the composition of the current KED, who is responsible for the VAR referees, what kind of certification does he have and from which body (domestic or international). Also, if the president of KED himself is certified for VAR or not.

B. If the person appearing as a VAR Manager (Lindberg) does not have the necessary certification, how and by what legal procedures was he hired by the EPO and is he paid? In the same case, who trains the VAR referees, who evaluates them, who rates them, who certifies them in Greek football?

C. Whether the KED VAR Officer (even legally certified and with the higher certification) is entitled to circulate the game times in the VAR building and interfere with the work of the referees (e.g. drawing the offside lines, instruction to the match referee to “look” or not to “look” at a certain phase for a possible penalty, etc.) and from which FIFA Regulation such a right arises.

D. If the EPO has published the standard VAR operation manual (it’s 75+ pages) on its website (as it is required to do) or is keeping it hidden “for its own use”…

Q. Who will bear the cost of the new contract, by what procedures will a contractor be selected and who will ultimately decide on the selection, the EPO or the Super League? Are the PAEs willing to pay for the operation and management of the VAR away from any government interference?

St. If the new Contract will functionally integrate Goal Line Technology to fully ensure the referee’s objective decision in these difficult cases”.

Finally, he pointed out that the EPO Professional Football Committee at its meeting on 15/11 decided, among other things (as measures to protect the referees) the “Reinstatement of the commentary of the disputed phases by the KED of each matchdaywith the publication of the relevant videos, however since then the implementation of this decision has been completely ignored, without any justification from the EPO or the KED.