Israeli Referee Assignor Addresses VAR Errors and Referee Pressure
Translated & summarized from N12 by baba
Alon Yefet, the Israeli Football Association's referee assigner, admitted to an increase in VAR errors this season due to lowered intervention thresholds. He defended the overall refereeing quality while calling for an end to harassment against referee Dekel Tziono, who is currently unable to officiate. Yefet also confirmed that referees' requests to avoid specific teams are honored temporarily and that assignments consider various factors beyond just avoiding team affiliations.
The story in 5 lines · by baba
- Referee assigner Alon Yefet acknowledged increased VAR errors this season.
- Yefet stated referee Dekel Tziono is not fit to officiate due to harassment.
- The Israeli Football Association is working to correct VAR intervention thresholds.
- Referees' requests to avoid specific teams are honored temporarily.
- Assignments consider game importance and referee's condition, not just affiliations.
Alon Yefet, the referee assigner for the Israeli Football Association, acknowledged an increase in VAR errors this season, attributing it to a directive to lower the threshold for intervention. He stated that the association is working to correct this, with new instructions issued to intervene when decisions are clearly incorrect. Yefet defended the overall quality of refereeing, noting that mistakes are common worldwide and that the number of errors in Israel is not excessive when compared to the total number of games. He emphasized the association's transparency, admitting to errors and reviewing them after each round of matches.
Yefet specifically addressed the case of referee Dekel Tziono, stating that Tziono is not in a condition to officiate currently due to intense personal pressure and threats directed at him and his family. Yefet called for de-escalation, sharing his own experiences with similar harassment. He also mentioned that referees who request not to officiate certain teams, such as David Foxman with Maccabi Netanya and Yigal Fried with Hapoel Kfar Saba, will have their requests honored temporarily.
Regarding referee assignments, Yefet explained that referees are not disqualified for making mistakes and that assignments are based on factors like game importance, referee's recent performance, and physical condition. He cited examples of referees like Shnir Levi and Gal Levi not officiating teams they are associated with. Yefet also discussed the issue of extra players on the field, stating that while referees should notice, the ultimate responsibility lies with the team to manage its players.
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