Referees Must Sharpen their Skills.. Pedro: I Cannot Accept that VAR Decides the Winner of the Match
“I am always supporting referees and VAR referees, but it is not acceptable that VAR referees turned to be the one who decides who will win the match, and you can comment on this statement in the way you deem appropriate,” Head Coach of Al Ain Team Pedro Emmanuel opened the post-matchweek 4 of the Arabian Gulf League against Al Fujairah.
He said that when he saw the video again, he could confirm the goal scored by Caio Canedo and denied by the VAR was similar to the one scored by Fujairah’s player. “This is why I disagree that the referee’s den Al Fujairah’s goal as we are trying to serve the best interest of the football game. They earned that goal deservedly, and the referee should approve the goal we scored.”
He went on to say that all mistakes that take place within the box lie within the VAR referees’ jurisdiction, and they should require the match referee to cross check the case on the screen.
“In our match against Shabab Al Ahli Dubai, we experienced a similar situation at the 89th minute of the match. The VAR referees did not ask the match referee to check the case. Today, the referee did not go to the screen to ensure that he made the right decision by denying a penalty kick in favor of Laba Kodjo,” Pedro pointed out.
He emphasized that he does not underestimate the Fujairah squad. “They performed well tonight, and Al Ain did play well in certain parts of the match. I decided to involve the young players to enhance the team’s efforts after playing a tough match against Al Sharjah. Our squad did not play well in the first half as we expected, and this is why we replaced certain players.”
He stressed that his team did their best to dominate the match. Caio Canedo got some chances to score among other opportunities, but we were held at a 1-1 draw by the end of the day.
Pedro stated that he is not seeking to find excuses and that he knows well the mistakes committed by his team, but “again, I cannot accept that the VAR referees decide who is the winner of the match.”
He also stressed that he is not defending his players or the Club. “I came to the UAE to do my best to improve the football game further and would like to say that referees should also improve their skills and focus on what is happening on the pitch. If we are to add 15 minutes as an added-on time as the referee spends nearly 3 minutes to cross-check each case and add to that, we have six to seven substitutes and give a good time for the medical staff to check on or extract the injured players while all the time we are saying, we aim to develop the game. Could anybody tell me how?”
Responding to a question on why not seeing Mohammed Abdul Rahman in this match, he said: “It is not only Mohammed Abdul Rahman, we have other players. This is why we have to give the young players the chance to play and show their skills; yet, some did well, and others were not lucky enough. This is why football is a beautiful game.”
He also said: “You have your plans, but sometimes it does not work, and things went out of your control.”
Pedro concluded his statement by saying: “We tried to replace certain players, improve the performance quality, and play in-depth in an attempt to score. We did have many various chances, and we hope that we will have good luck with the VAR decisions next match.”
