Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers makes bold VAR comments

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Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has said he would prefer VAR to be abandoned, criticising the way it is used to referee matches.

Rodgers’ comments follow Daizen Maeda’s red card against Atletico Madrid on Tuesday, which left Celtic down to 10 men for the majority of the match.

Maeda was initially shown a yellow card for his challenge on Mario Hermoso, but VAR later intervened, resulting in a red card.

Rodgers said: [Daily Record], “If you ask me right now – I would get rid of it. Absolutely. But there’s money been invested in it for the greater good of the game that is supposed to make it better.

“You have to give it every chance. But if you are asking me now, I’d go back to pure football. We know that when humans are involved you will have mistakes.

“We all make mistakes. But I’d rather accept that than what we see at the moment.”

Rodgers’ comments are spot on. While VAR may have appeared to be a positive idea initially, the way it’s being implemented is negatively impacting football. Players are now held to an unfair standard, such as not being allowed to block the ball, as Maeda did on Tuesday in Madrid.

Tuesday night’s red card is a prime example of VAR’s interference negatively impacting a match. Maeda’s tackle, which should have warranted only a yellow card, was transformed into a red card through still images highlighting any contact he made.

A competitive match where Celtic had at least a fighting chance was snatched away, eliminating any excitement it could have offered. The end result was a 6-0 loss. Although Celtic were already trailing by a goal before the sending off, the Hoops seemed to be finding their footing in the match, but any potential spectacle was abruptly taken away.

Taking away human error does not benefit football positively, and fans continue to grow weary of VAR if they were not already. The future of VAR is ultimately in the hands of governing bodies, but it’s unlikely to be scrapped due to the significant financial investments made by the SFA, UEFA, and FIFA in training officials.