La Liga: Fans, Coach, Referee split over VAR technology

Ater four months of LaLiga Santander and 16 matchdays which have featured VAR, there are still many situations in which players, coach or the fans feel that it is making mistakes.

It is rare that there is a round of matches that passes by without the room at Las Rozas’ City of Football coming under scrutiny and this weekend has been no different.

At the Estadio Jose Zorrilla, where Real Valladolid hosted Atletico Madrid, it was Undiano Mallenco who went to VAR after an Antoine Griezmann shot hit the hand of Kiko Olivas.

It ended with a penalty being awarded to Los Rojiblancos, which the French forward dispatched to make it 2-0.

The anger from the stands only multiplied minutes later when the referee did not opt to use the outside help when there was a potential handball at the other end from Santiago Arias.

Deciding to use it for one handball decision and not another was something that greatly irked the home support.

At Ipurua, where Eibar were at home to Valencia, there was also controversy when Cordero Vega took several minutes to award a penalty against Jose Gaya for a handball inside the box, following a Ruben Pena cross.

Gaya received his punishment, while elsewhere Arias did not and it goes to show that there is still work to be done.

Although players and coaches publicly acknowledge that they agree with VAR and its use, many believe the process should be sped up and that there needs to be more consistency with the use of the technology.