Bogus offside calls and spot kicks put the Chinese Super League’s VAR experiment in the spotlight
Another weekend of games see the role of the video assistant referee cause confusion and consternation for fans, players and coaches
Introduced at the start of the season last month, it is early days for VAR in China. This was only the fifth round of games but it is proving to be as controversial in China as it is everywhere else and equally as confusing.
Despite the relatively small sample size its clear that there is much room for improvement and how it is applied. This weekend was no exception.
Ricardo Goulart was given offside after scoring against Shandong Luneng when the teams faced off at Tianhe Stadium in Guangzhou on Sunday night.
The Brazilian tapped in from a Deng Hanwen cross after nine minutes, a goal that had it stood would have put the champions 2-0 up, only for referee Wang Zhe to consult the video official.
Chinese internet users have commented that it was too harsh to give him offside with only his arm in an offside position, with one journalist pointing out that football’s governing body puts the focus for decision on the parts of the body that can legally play the ball.
The ref had given it, as had the CCTV sports team on their live broadcast who had changed the score to 2-0. None of the Shandong Luneng players appealed for offside.