2 hours ago
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Aberdeen chairman Dave Cormack says that a 60-second limit should be put on video assistant referee (VAR) checks in Scottish football.
Cormack, along with a growing number of people in the game, has become tired of long on-field checks and VAR's obtrusive impact on the fan experience in stadiums.
If a decision is not clear and obvious after a minute then the referee's on-field decision should stand, he argues.
Cormack added that a suspension of VAR should be on the table if standards don't improve.
"My opinion, and this is not just about Aberdeen, but for the whole Scottish Premiership, is that if it takes four minutes to make a decision, it's not clear and obvious," Cormack told BBC Scotland.
"If they can't make a decision within 60 seconds, the on field decision should be upheld.
"However, if the inconsistency of decision-making continues, we should suspend it indefinitely until such times as it can be consistently relied upon."
At his club's AGM last season, Cormack stated that if it was down to him he would ditch VAR entirely, but an abandonment of the system is not on the agenda.
Numerous Premiership managers have expressed anger and frustration at some recent incidents that were subsequently deemed incorrect calls by the Scottish FA's head of refereeing, Willie Collum.
Among others, Livingston manager David Martindale and St Mirren boss Stephen Robinson have been vocal critics of the system. Last month, Robinson described VAR as "not fit for purpose" in its current form.
"When video assistant referees were first proposed four years ago, the Scottish FA's pitch was that VAR would increase the volume of correct decisions and do so with a light-touch approach that minimised disruption to the game," added Cormack.
"While the association may be able to provide, as far as I'm aware, unaudited statistics showing an increase in correct decisions, I suspect that if you took the temperature of rank-and-file supporters across the Premiership, the feeling would be quite different. It simply doesn't feel like it has improved.
"Even if accuracy has marginally increased, I'm not sure many fans would say that VAR has added enough to justify the millions that clubs are required to pay. Supporters no longer feel able to celebrate goals freely for fear they will be ruled out; matches are slowed down by lengthy checks; there is a lack of clarity within the stadium about what is being reviewed; and too often decisions take far too long to reach.
"Some of this stems from the limitations of the technology available to us in Scotland given what the game can afford, and some is down to the inconsistency in how decisions are applied.
"Make no mistake, the fact that after every round of games, the most commonly talked about subject is VAR decisions, that does nothing for fan engagement and experience."
The SFA has been approached for comment.
Livingston manager David Martindale: "You're not getting decisions in 60 seconds. If you're using VAR you've got to take as long as it takes to get to the right decision, that's been the problem.
"So just miss that out and go straight to suspending it. If you did a poll within Scottish football, I'm not so sure there are many for it. I don't think it's helped the game, I would rather be talking about referees and officials making poor decisions in real time.
"We're going to make mistakes, but it's ones we shouldn't be making with the technology. I would take VAR out of the game today. I don't think it'll get better."
St Mirren manager Stephen Robinson: "I've made my feelings very clear on VAR, I've received my letter from the SFA to warn me about my comments so I think the less I say the better, but I've got a lot of respect for Dave and I respect his opinion as well."
Dundee United boss Jim Goodwin: "I think everybody would be in agreement, managers, players, supporters. We would all like to see the process that little bit quicker.
"I think there's too much looking for ways to disallow goals nowadays. We're really going down to fine margins. If we're not quite sure within that first half a minute, 60 seconds then I think the decision on the field should stand.
"We've been talking too much about VAR, it's as simple as that."
Former Motherwell captain Stephen Craigan: "So many decisions in football are subjective so it's not just black and white, it's clear and obvious. It's not.
"Communication is the big thing, when you look at England the referees speak out on big decisions to clear it up and that's potentially something we should do. If referees speak I think fans would be a lot more comfortable in the stadium."
Former St Johnstone and Hearts midfielder Alan Preston: "I don't think it'll apply with IFAB, they wouldn't have Scotland as an outlier as a country that are running to a time limit, I don't think it happens.
"What if it takes one minute and five seconds to get a decision which may be the difference between winning the league, winning a cup tie, getting relegated, a manager losing his job?
"I've said it before, it needs to be better, it needs to be speeded up, the fan experience is dreadful at times. As long as we get to the right decision and that's the problem we're not ultimately getting to the right decision, it should take as long as it takes."
Former Partick Thistle boss Ian McCall: "Get the really obvious ones right, that's the first thing they have to do. These ones we're talking about, they're really, really obvious, they shouldn't even take a minute.
"What happens if it's a crucial game and it takes 67 seconds to get the right decision. Let's have quicker correct decisions?"
