22 Oct A-League boss defends VAR, calls for more full-time referees

A-League boss Greg O’Rourke has defended the VAR following a controversial opening weekend of fixtures.

The video technology has come in for wide-spread criticism after it was used three times in four A-League matches in contentious fashion – most notably in Saturday night’s Melbourne Derby.

O’Rourke says the VAR is here to stay and that it is being utilised appropriately.

“The VAR has been rolled out world-wide so it’s not going anywhere,” O’Rourke told SEN Afternoons.

“The system failed in the Newcastle v Victory Grand Final but the system now is working as designed.

“If you take the Central Coast Mariners v Brisbane Roar game there were three interventions by the VAR, all three of those were for offside, all three of those were correct, but they still get caught up in this conversation about VAR intervention.

“In the Melbourne Derby, that was not VAR’s intervention – that was the referee making the mistake.”

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The need for more full-time referees in the A-League is a priority for O’Rourke and the competition’s hierarchy.

“For us, what we need to do is find funding to start pushing for full-time referees,” O’Rourke said.

“All our players train six days a week one or two sessions a day, we have some referees that have full-time jobs 9-5 or longer and then we’re asking them to back up on the weekend.

“If you’re asking for my solution, I think the question has to be do we need some more full-time referees to stick with the pace and with the focus that’s required in full-time sport.”

Listen to Greg O’Rourke’s chat on SEN Afternoons with Brett Phillips in the player below