Philadelphia 76ers player Joel Embiid has slammed the VAR in the aftermath of Manchester City’s draw with Liverpool on Sunday afternoon. According to the basketball star, on-field referees should be the only ones officiating a football match.
Premier League table-toppers Manchester City played out an entertaining 2-2 draw with second-placed Liverpool at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday. Kevin de Bruyne and Gabriel Jesus each scored a goal for the hosts, while Diogo Jota and Sadio Mane struck for the Reds.
In the second half, City’s Raheem Sterling scored the third, but it was ruled out for offside by the VAR.
Embiid was presumably ticked off by that decision, claiming that VAR was “the worst thing” ever in football. Expressing his views on Twitter, the 28-year-old wrote:
“VAR has to be the worst thing ever… just let the referees make decisions and live with the results.”
The VAR’s inclusion has been a controversial topic in football, and we believe the debate will rage on for generations. While the VAR certainly has its shortcomings, it is still quite essential in maintaining fairness and transparency in football.
If the system is further fine-tuned and is deployed more sensibly, we could see fairer decisions and outcomes in the coming years and decades.