The time isn’t right for VAR says former referee Pat McEnaney

By Niall Gartland

FORMER referee Pat McEnaney believes that VAR would cause more problems than it would solve if introduced to the GAA at this juncture.

Officiating has found itself in the spotlight in recent weeks after a string of controversial decisions at Croke Park, including during last Sunday’s All-Ireland Senior Football Championship semi-final between Kerry and Dublin.

Speaking after the game, losing manager Ger Brennan commented: “why do we not have referee-assisted technology? I think it’s something that needs to change for next year. I think referees deserve it, I think players deserve it, because everyone is putting so much into it. These three decisions, luck would have been taken out of it.”

Pat McEnaney chaired the National Referees’ Committee during Liam O’Neill’s Presidency, overseeing the introduction of the amended square-ball rule, the black card and hawk-eye. However, he believes the time isn’t right to introduce VAR.

“I made a comment in Gaelic Life about four years ago that within 10 years we’d have VAR.

”The problem is it’s causing more debate than it’s solving in soccer. We’re not ready for it. I might have been a bit premature when I said we’d have it in 10 years. Right now, we don’t need VAR. Early on in the World Cup it worked quite well, but in the last number of games it’s caused a lot of controversy.

“Don’t ever rule it out though. I always say to people, if you look at the last 20 years, how our game has developed –fitness levels, strength and conditioning. We’ve travelled a massive journey, so never rule it out. But at the moment, for the foreseeable future, our game does not need VAR.”

Dublin were frustrated on Saturday not to have a goal awarded when Ross McGarry palmed an effort towards the net, but McEnaney isn’t convinced that the ball completely crossed the line. He also believes the decision to award Kerry a first-half penalty was a correct one. With those two instances in mind, he says some of the post-match commentary has been over the top.

“You need things to calm down and reflect about a week after and ask what happened, what needs to be done. And the bottom line is, I’ve looked at it and I’d ask in relation to the penalty, would it have been a free out the field? And it was. If it’s out the field, it’s a free. Because it’s a penalty, people become more dramatic about it.

“Poeple talk about goal-line technology as well, there’s no proof that the referee got it wrong with that decision. Nobody has come back to me with proof. I’m saying we can’t say the referee has made a mistake.

“Did he make a mistake for the square ball – yes, that was quite clear. I feel his umpires made a poor decision,they should have been getting that right, particularly in Croke Park, as hawk eye will always bail you out in relation to whether the ball goes over the bar.

“But it’s natural instinct to be looking at the point.”