What can industry learn from sport? – Post 6 of 6 – Video Assistant Referee (VAR)
Rules – Video Assistant Referee (VAR)
In this final post in our series, we look at one of the most difficult roles in any sport played anywhere. The role of referee or umpire is always a challenging one. Individual players, teams and their managers in professional sport are always extremely passionate people who will get emotional and angry if they feel a decision has been made which unfairly compromises them or gives an advantage to their opponents. Some of the most extreme examples of harassment referees experience apparently come from the parents of very young players.
However, if you are going to be the referee at the World Cup or the umpire at the Ashes or Wimbledon, millions of sports fans across the world will be relying on the quality and fairness of your decision making. You cannot stop a game for more than a few moments to check with the VAR (Video Assistant Referee), certainly coming back a week or two later isn’t possible. You have to get it right first time. No pressure…
Competing interests during a project can often lead to disagreement, disputes or differences. Parking the project for weeks or months to resolve them is never ideal and the completion of a project to the satisfaction of all involved requires quick, effective, and fair decision making from the referee. In the case of construction, this will usually be an adjudicator, arbitrator or a judge. There may be photographic or video evidence to rely on, but this is as close to the VAR as we are likely to get until AI invents the robot adjudicator. Technology can help manage documents that may appear in large quantities and allow forensic analysis of the facts, although an effective working knowledge of the rule book (the contract) will always be required. As seen in sport, being the referee is a tough job but delivering the right result, quickly and efficiently is essential. No pressure…
VAR has led to a huge number of talking points at the women’s World Cup this summer and has arrived with a bang in the English Premier League. Its introduction has shown that new technology can never replace the need for a human to make the final judgement call and the losing side will always challenge that call.
Our congratulations and thanks to the referees, umpires, adjudicators and judges everywhere who are often the unsung heroes of challenging situations.
ArticlesAmericasAsia PacificEuropeGlobalMiddle East
Share
Share