Oliver Kahn says VAR needs improvement, can be much quicker in current form

Mumbai, Jul 18 (PTI) Legendary goalkeeper Oliver Kahn says the current version of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) is meant to bring more "justice" and clarity in the game but wants the system to be much quicker than in the present form. Kahn said in order to improve the VAR, which has dominated discussions around many matches in this World Cup, they should not have the on-field referee running to the screen all the time and rather should be helped by the officials sitting in the Video Operation Room. "When I was playing, there was no VAR. Sometimes it's your luck and sometimes it's bad luck for you. Overall, the game now and today, I think there is more justice, it's clearer," Kahn told reporters in an interaction organised by Zee 5. "I don't understand why the referee is always going on the second screen, to again see the situation or what happened. Because there are two or three guys in front of the screen and they could say to him, 'hey, it's this or that', and then he can make a decision." "Why is he going out there? I don't understand. Because when we can't rely on the three guys who are sitting in front of the screen, (then) I don't know," Kahn added. Kahn said changing the process will bring in more speed to the game. "The decisions could go way faster and we don't have this, ‘oh, I'm running in front of the screen and looking and then I make my decision’. I think that's something maybe which will change in the future," he said. But the former German goalkeeper said it will be crucial to have a certain quality of personnel sitting in the VOR to get accurate decisions. "The question is what is the quality of the people sitting in front of the screen. This is a very important question," he said. "Have they really got the quality to estimate what happens so that the referee is not forced to go out on the screen and have a look?," Kahn asked. The 2002 World Cup finalist said he could not make up his mind whether a 48-team tournament is good for the future of the game. "You cannot say yes or no. You have to make a little bit of differentiation, I think, it is the right word. The smaller countries showed that they have earned to be here at this World Cup. If you look at Cabo Verde, it's an absolutely great example," he said. "There was not such a big gap between the smaller countries and the big countries. We also had a lot of great games. But you have to be careful, because the more teams play in a World Cup, it's a little bit a kind of inflation of teams." "… and the value of something is because there are only a smaller amount of teams (competing), because then this would be of a higher quality." Kahn added, "A World Cup should show the highest quality of football. On the other hand, football is a global game and football is a game for everyone. And giving the chance also for smaller countries to participate is also something valuable." PTI DDV DDV AH AH