SFA CHIEF: I'M NO VAR FAN BUT IT'S HERE TO STAY

SFA chairman Mike Mulraney would happily get rid of VAR - but he is adamant it can't happen because it would leave Scottish teams at a huge disadvantage on the European and international stage.

- By Scott Burns

The video technology was widely introduced to UEFA competitions in season 2019-20 and has been used in Scotland's top flight since October 2022.

However, it continues to split opinion.

Proponents of VAR argue that it improves decision accuracy - particular with offsides - and player discipline, while critics feel it disrupts the flow of the game and often leads to overuse and misinterpretation of rules, especially when it comes to subjective calls.

Mulraney, right, is among those who would prefer to see football go back to operating without an official sitting behind the scenes looking at replays on a monitor, but he admits that won't happen now that its use has become so widespread at elite level.

He said: “If UEFA had a vote now and said, ‘Do you want to continue with VAR?’ - I’d be minded to vote ‘no’.

“But as long as anybody’s got it then we’ve got to have it, and I'll tell you why.