Video Assistant Referee (VAR) was used for the first time in FC Bayern München’s penalty-shootout Supercup win over Borussia Dortmund, but the new technology’s debut in the competition was not all plain sailing. “The calibrated line, which is usually there to help with offside decisions, wasn’t available in the first half due to technical problems,” explained the DFL and DFB together in a statement.
Therefore, video assistant Tobias Stieler had to take the decision on Robert Lewandowski’s goal, which made the score 1-1, without this technical support. The line that usually appears would have shown if Joshua Kimmich, who set up the goal, was standing in an offside position when he received the ball. “After looking at all available camera angles, including stills, video assistant Tobias Stieler decided that Kimmich was onside and so no correction or intervention was required.
”Rectify small problems before the Bundesliga starts”
Hellmut Krug, the DFB chief director in refereeing, commented to DBF.de: “Even when decisions are discussed a little in public, what matters in the end is that all the decisions were the correct ones. It was also right not to signal for offside on the goal which made it 1-1. Kimmich wasn’t, even though it was very close, in an offside position. Therefore, VAR didn’t intervene in this instance.”
Krug continued: “Unfortunately, the corresponding TV pictures could only be shown after the game and show therefore that the decisions were correct. In pre-season, we alluded to the fact we could face small problems in the early stage of VAR use. We’re optimistic and will do everything to make sure that all problems have been rectified by the start of the Bundesliga on the 18th of August and that everything works flawlessly on the first matchday. Nevertheless, as the technology’s debut has shown, there will still be apprehension and discussion surrounding correct referee decisions.”