Major League Soccer will begin using VAR (video assistant referee) on the arbitrary date of August 5 in the middle of the season. Little good that does FC Dallas.
In the 21st minute of Dallas’ match with Montreal on Saturday, Cristian Colman hit a shot well over the goal line before it was headed out by Impact defender Daniel Lovitz. Replays show the ball clearly went over the line but referee Robert Sibiga waved play on.
Not in? #MTLvFCD pic.twitter.com/UmjYBuWeQR
— FC Dallas (@FCDallas) July 23, 2017
To make matters worse, Montreal scored the opener seconds later.
MLS wants to be at the forefront of using video replay and indeed the league will be one of the first to adopt VAR. But if the system is ready now, why wait for a different arbitrary date?
The Confederations Cup showed how quickly players, coaches and fans will adapt to VAR, so the sooner the better.
Fortunately for FC Dallas, Colman scored twice for a 2-1 win over the Impact. Colman’s brace, which should’ve been a hat trick, saved MLS’s blushes.
How sweet it is! Watch the best moments from #MTLvFCD that ended in a 2-1 FC Dallas victory. pic.twitter.com/Ok8xPyIex0
— FC Dallas (@FCDallas) July 23, 2017
For those wondering, VAR in MLS will feature a fifth referee who has access to all broadcast replays. He or she will be able to alert the head ref to “potential clear obvious errors or serious missed incidents” involving goals, penalty kicks, straight red cards and cases of mistaken identity.
It’s an obvious move in the right direction, it’s just coming a bit late for FC Dallas.