Yahoo Finance VAR causes ‘mayhem’ with football, says rugby boss
The boss of Premiership rugby club Exeter Chiefs Rob Baxter has said football employing sin bins is like letting the “genie out of the bottle” and says VAR causes “mayhem”.
The International Football Association Board (IFAB) has this week backed the introduction of the sending offs as a way of stamping out abhorrent behaviour towards officials.
It comes as officials in the Premier League have come under pressure from multiple parties due to their on-pitch decision making.
Football making changes
Rugby has sin bins, where players are sent off for a 10-minute period for a number of reasons, including dissent and fouls.
“I will be honest with you, I am very surprised football are doing it,” Baxter said.
“I was a bit surprised when football went to VAR, and I am not sure how much they realised they were letting the genie out of the bottle.
“We are meddlers in sport, and rugby is the worst of the lot. We have actually realised we want less TMO (television match official) intervention, the international game is saying we need less TMO intervention.
“All the commentators and ex-professional footballers are saying we need way less VAR interference, and if it does happen it has to happen quickly and the crowd need to know what it is about because it is just causing mayhem in big games.
“Once you start the process it is very hard to stop tinkering with it. They are tinkering with it all the time.
“One of the things that football has always had as its strength is that everyone can explain the rules within five minutes to your average new supporter and they will get it.
“My advice to football would be just be careful. Do you think you genuinely need it to improve player behaviour?
“Or do penalties, free-kicks and yellow cards as they stand, which can escalate to reds for a double yellow, have they got the sanctions already within their game to control player behaviour and they just haven’t been using them?”
