Have FIFA got Australia in a stranglehold over VAR?

Football Federation Australia's dogged persistence with the use of the VAR makes you wonder if the governing body have been put in a straitjacket by FIFA's godfathers.

It is logical to suspect that this might be the case when opposition to the controversial mechanism is strong and growing by the day.

However enough is enough and the A-League should do the right thing by thousands of disgruntled fans and dump the VAR system that is causing so much collateral damage and beginning to seriously affect the game's appeal and credibility.

Contracts for the forthcoming A-League season that kicks off in two weeks have already been signed so we'll have to put up with the VAR for another season, but moves should start now to abolish the unpopular system for the next competition.

The problem is Australia may have reached a point of no return with the VAR regardless of whether it likes it or not ... and indications are that some A-League clubs actually don't mind it.

The A-League took much pride in becoming the first top-level domestic league in the world to implement the controversial system in April 2017.

But if the FFA really have the interests of our game at heart they also should be the first organisation to tell FIFA that they will abolish the VAR because it does not work for us.

Firstly, because the system is flawed and, secondly, because most of the referees who run it do not understand it or simply are not up to standard.

The 'VAR is here to stay so we might as well get used to it' argument is a cop-out and smacks of convenience. We do not need the VAR because it's damaging our game and we should be brave enough to tell FIFA so.

A-League head Greg O'Rourke said at the time that "VAR will help eliminate incorrect match-changing decisions". Well, it has not panned out that way, has it?

Many coaches, players, fans and media personnel detest the mechanism that has robbed the game of its flow and emotion and, crucially, has not ended controversy.

The VAR is now ludicrously stopping a match for as long as three minutes to rub out a goal because a player is a few millimetres offside, assuming its ruling is correct, that is.

It has been claimed that it is almost impossible for the VAR to freeze the frame of a video (to determine the release of the ball in tight offside situations, for instance) at the precise time when players are running at high speed. You stop it a split second earlier or later and your ruling is way out.

VAR has not made football a better spectacle and it is difficult to fathom why the FFA would support a system that threatens the game's attraction.

The FFA still control all aspects of our game because negotiations with the clubs in the transition of responsibility for the A-League are ongoing.

Can the FFA say with hand on heart that they are satisfied with the VAR folly that has caused plenty of frustration in the last two seasons with more of the same likely this forthcoming campaign?

Are the FFA legally or morally bound to retain the VAR even though in fairness it is still a work in progress?

Are the FFA and the league powerless to get rid of the VAR even if they wanted to because Australia would be seen in a poor light by FIFA should they indicate they are going down that path?

And with bidding for the 2023 Women's World Cup in full swing, can the FFA afford to be perceived as an anti-establishment federation should they tell the world governing body that Australia does not wish to have anything to do with FIFA's billion-dollar baby?

The FFA have been asked for comment on the matter but two attempts proved unsuccessful, which is a shame because A-League fans are entitled to expect answers to legitimate questions surrounding the game they are continuously asked to support through their hard-earned.

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