Australia became the first nation to use video assistant referees (VAR) in an elite domestic league last month after a year of training and simulated trials.
Like cricket's Decision Review System, it took little time before the VAR system proved controversial and the debate over its use has raged in the leadup to Sunday's championship final at Sydney Football Stadium.
Two of the goals in Sydney FC's home 3-0 defeat of Perth Glory in the semi-finals last weekend were decided by the VAR, which is employed to eliminate referee howlers rather than over-rule line-ball decisions.
Pundits accused the VAR of overstepping its authority, particularly when reviewing the second goal scored by Jordy Buijs in the semi-final.
The linesman ruled Sydney's Bobo offside and also said the Brazilian striker had impeded a Glory defender as Buijs swooped in on goal.
However, the VAR took a different interpretation for a decision that many pundits felt was too grey to warrant intervention.
"So, after a semi-final in which the new system got its first proper workout, are we all completely satisfied that it’s the panacea to a new, improved version of football?" Simon Hill, a commentator for Fox Sports, wrote.
"Like hell."
The national soccer governing body Football Federation Australia (FFA) may have its fingers crossed that the VAR stays well out of the action when the Sky Blues and Victory clash in their third decider.
The FFA is, after all, already nervous about the condition of the playing surface at Sydney Football Stadium, given it was abysmal during the semi-final due to a rugby match played the night before.
Ground staff will again have less than 24 hours to get the pitch up to scratch following Saturday's Super Rugby match between the New South Wales Waratahs and Auckland Blues.
The FFA and the state government tried to have the rugby game moved to a suburban ground to preserve the turf but the New South Wales Waratahs flatly refused.
Sydney have become accustomed to playing on the pockmarked surface and are raging favourites to win a third A-League title after recording the most dominant season in the competition's 12-year history with 20 wins and one defeat in 27 matches.
Champions in the inaugural 2005-06 season and again in 2009-10, the Graham Arnold-coached side has strength across the park but boast a particularly miserly defence that accrued a record number of clean sheets in the regular season.
Kevin Muscat-coached Melbourne Victory defeated three-times champions Brisbane Roar 1-0 in the semi-final and will bid for a record fourth championship after claiming the 2006-07, 2008-09 and 2014-15 titles.
Although heavy on attacking firepower, boasting the league's most prolific goal-scorer in Besart Berisha, Victory lost all three of their regular season games to Sydney.
But they beat the Sky Blues in their last championship decider in 2014/15, avenging their defeat in the 2009-10 final, and know form will count for little on the day.
"Everybody is not 100 per cent, everybody is 1,000 per cent," Kosovo striker Berisha told reporters on Thursday.
"What matters most is how we perform ... Both teams are going to lift, the intensity is going to be very high. It's about who wants it more."
(Editing by Nick Mulvenney)
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