Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger questions VAR push extremes

AArsenal boss Arsene Wenger has questioned the growing demand for video technology.

Fifa's VAR system - or video assistant referee technology - is being trialled at this summer's Confederations Cup, with a number of key decisions already being referred upstairs to a mixed reception from fans, managers and players alike.

"The only question we have to answer now is how far will we go?" Wenger told Arsenal Player.

"For example there is a guy in the box who should be given a penalty. The opposition win the ball, go up the other end and score. Do you cancel the goal and give the penalty to the other side?

"That could become a very controversial decision, because if the referee lets the game flow he cannot stop the game.

"If he comes back and gives a penalty of course that can create havoc, because he has to wait until the game has stopped to intervene. We have to think about how you deal with that.

"At the moment I would [use VAR] for offside and goals allowed or disallowed, but keep it as simple as possible.

"It would sometimes allow the linesmen to let the game go - they would be encouraged to be a bit less protective of the defenders if they knew that if a goal was scored you could come back to see if it was offside or not.

"The penalty decision I'm not 100 per cent convinced about because even if you watch it 10 times on video and have 10 specialists in the studio, five might say it's a penalty and five might say it's not."