It's a penalty. So why wasn't it awarded?
Corrupt officials against LFC Federation....I don't think so. The answer lies somewhere in how and why we make the judgements we all do, every single day.
All of our conscious decisions are influenced by a number of factors. The technical term used by social scientists is "Noise" Not noise as in audible sound, but mental noise, all that stuff that's going on around you all the time. All this perceived stimulus is processed and filtered through your own
mental library of experience, bias, etc...etc. Sometimes we have the time to analyse and scrutinise our perceptions before we come to a rational conclusion; at other times we have to make quick snap instinctive decisions. Fast decision making is almost always personal, it affects us alone, Can I get across the road before that bus gets here?...that kind of thing. Referee's make numerous fast decisions every game, I don't know the data figures but I'd guess 80/90% are unlikely to affect the result, minor infringements in the main. But most games will have an incident(or more) which might well influence the result, and its in trying to get these key incidents correct is why we have VAR.
To arrive at a final decision there is a chain of command. The senior member of that chain is the referee and he is obligated and trusted to make difficult decisions, (these they usually get right without resorting to VAR)... VAR only exists ( leaving offside out of it for now so as to make my point) because the technology exists for other people to scrutinise incidents the referee may not have seen.
Here's the problem: VAR has been given the power to decide what they think constitutes a "Clear and obvious error" or "Missed serious action" They shouldn't have this degree of power; it essentially means the game is being referee'd twice. We would be better served if all judgements were taken away from VAR. The parameters of their involvement needs a much narrower remit. I'm not going to try and draft any new VAR laws, other than to say ALL key incidents inside the penalty area, should be highlighted by VAR and referred back to the referee to review on the monitor. At least then it's still in the hands of one single official to make all the decisions in the game. IF, like now VAR can pick and choose what they think constitutes a Clear and obvious error then we are doomed to years and years of frustration and this tiresome postulation of a conspiracy theory.
Of course like any chain of command VAR has a hierarchy, and all hierarchies follow a set line of influence. All VAR operators will be guided to a large extent by the referee....generally speaking, If he doesn't think it's a pen, then that's good enough for them...it absolves them from making a decision.
We also see this in reverse; a VAR operator forms an opinion that a tackle is worthy of a red card and asks the ref to review the footage. The ref now thinks well if he/they think it's a red I'll award it...again, it absolves him of making a decision. (How often doe's he disagree with the VAR call?...hardly ever)
The Doku incident late in the game yesterday was a potential penalty, it was so late in the game, ALL the officials knew, not only would their decision affect the result of the game, but also possibly who would claim the title. This is intense pressure, which they are paid to handle...but they are human and decisions are influenced by pressure..imagine, a penalty awarded, and scored gives Liverpool the league title...and that decision is later shown to have been in error...anyway you take my point.
Far better (from their point of view) to not award it as it then absolves them of potentially deciding the title. The other "noise" behind the judgement would be the fact Liverpool had already been given a penalty ....as was the time left in the game....the crowd....the opponent...all these things are factors which combined contribute to the final decision.
As Klopp said, anywhere else on the pitch it's a foul and given, but the pressure on the officials yesterday was so intense, it's hardly surprising they bottled it....that's no excuse....It was a penalty.
« Last Edit: Mar 11, 2024 11:29:50 pm by Longy-Shops »
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