Tehran Times - Human error is part of football. We occasionally see referees make wrong judgments that may or may not change the course of a game.
However, Iranian football seems to have faced an apparent crisis due to increasing wrong decisions made by the referees, especially in the Iran Professional League (IPL) matches.
While most of the referees' errors are forgiven by the fans soon after, some refereeing howlers have stood for a long time, and people hardly forget them.
On Thursday, Persepolis conceded a handball goal in the 54th minutes of the game against Havadar; shockingly, the goal was not disallowed.
Most of the coaches of the IPL teams have called for the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system to be launched in IPL by the Iranian football federation and Iran Football League Organization.
Some clubs have lodged formal protests over the poor officiating by the referees during the matches. The coaches and the managers believe and announce that poor officiating is a significant cause of their failures in most of the games. They demand answers following several controversial refereeing decisions and ask for the VAR to be applied in the league matches.
However, the Football Federation of the Islamic Republic of Iran (FFIRI) has not yet been able to bring the VAR to Iranian football. According to the federation's officials, this is not going to happen – at least - until the end of this football season.
The history of video technology as a means to make refereeing or umpiring calls in all sports shows that decisions can be divided into two categories. First, simple line v ball judgments, where it is unclear in real-time whether a ball has crossed the goal line.
The second one is more complicated and complex events involving movements and some contact between players and the ball.
Iranian football lacked the necessary technology for both situations, and controversial incidents are repeated in every matchday of the IPL. The abuse directed at match officials is also increasing in the country's football.
The use of VAR in the top European leagues and international competitions proved that there are still disputed decisions after checking the incidents by the referees at monitors. Still, if even a small number of debatable decisions are resolved satisfactorily, that is progress.
Introducing VAR to the Iranian football will produce win-win results both for the teams and the referees. There's not one referee that doesn't want it. It's an emergency need for the Iranian football.