Wani tattaunawa mai gaggawa tsakanin jami'an VAR — "Quick, quick, quick, quick! Go, go, go, go, go!" — ya sa tsarin yanke hukunci na bidiyo na Premier League karkashin mafi tsananin bincike da ta fuskanta, bayan Matt Donohue, jami'in bidiyo mataimaki, ya yi kacici-kacici a bitar da ta ba da damar yarda da kambun nasara na Erling Haaland a derby na Manchester.

Manchester City ta doke Manchester United da 1-0, amma sakamakon ya shiga rufe inuwar kuskure mai girma wanda ya sake kunna muhawara game da ko sha'awar kwallon kafa da gudu tana yin illa ga daidaito da VAR aka tsara don samarwa.

Abin da ya kasa a cikin bitar

Babban kuskuren bai kasance na sauri kadai ba. Donohue ya aikata kuskuren tsari mai mahimmanci a farkon bitar ta hanyar dakatar da bidiyon lokacin da Josko Gvardiol ya taɓa ƙwallon don yi wa yankin cross, sannan kai tsaye ya shiga cikin fasahar offside ta semi-automated. Ya kamata ƙungiyar VAR ta kimanta hoton gaba ɗaya — daga yadda aka yi cross har zuwa bugun kai na Haaland — kafin ta ci gaba.

Wannan hoton cikakke da zai bayyana cewa Enzo Fernandez yana yadi uku a matsayin offside lokacin da ya yi ƙoƙarin bugawa da kansa a cikin yankin hukunci. Saboda ba a tantance jerin ba gabaɗaya, ba a yi la'akari da abubuwan da suka faru a cikin yankin sai a lokacin mataki na farmaki — a wannan lokacin, Donohue da mataimakin VAR ɗinsa, Blake Antrobus, sun mai da hankali kawai kan ko Fernandez ya taɓa ƙwallon, wanda da zai ƙirƙira wani mataki na sabon yanayi kuma ya sa Haaland a matsayin offside.

Duk gudummawar Antrobus ga bitar ta kasance yin kalmar "no, yeah" game da taɓawa mai yiwuwa — dakika ɗaya kawai kafin Donohue ya shelanta hukunci na ƙarshe: kambun nasara an yarda, bitar ta ƙare. Rawar AVAR ita ce bayar da matakan duba da daidaito, don tabbatar da ba a rasa komai ba. Wannan aikin bai cika ba.

Matsin lamba na sauri

Gaggawan da ya bayyana a muryar Donohue ya nuna matsin lamba mafi faɗi wanda ke gudana a cikin tsarin baki ɗaya. Premier League ta mai da «amfani da VAR da inganci fiye don rage jinkiri» ɗaya daga cikin ka'idojin ƙwallon kafa na wannan kakar. Binciken da aka yi na masu ruwa da tsaki — ciki har da manajan ƙungiyoyi, ma'aikata, da masu goyon baya — sun nuna a duk lokaci cewa sauri a yanke hukuncin VAR shine yanki mafi bukata na ingantawa.

Lambobin sun nuna raguwa ta gaske: matsakaicin jinkirin VAR ya ragu daga dakika 46 a wasa zuwa dakika 36 a duk shekara. Amma manyan kuskuren VAR biyu da suka fi yin tasiri a wannan kakar — kambun Haaland da gazawar ba Arsenal bugun daga kai sai mai tsaron gida a filin Aston Villa — duka sun bayyana cewa bitar ta farfajiya an yi ta da gaggawa sosai.

Manajan Manchester City, Enzo Maresca, ya amince da wahalar aikin VAR, ko da ƙungiyarsa ta amfana daga kuskuren. "Yanke hukunci a cikin dakika 10, 20 ba abu ne mai sauƙi gare su ba," in ji Maresca. "Wani lokaci suna yin kuskure. Ni ina yin kuskure, 'yan wasa suna yin kuskure. Wani ɓangare ne na aikinmu."

Ƙwararrun VAR ba garantiya bane

Donohue ba jami'i ne marar ƙwarewa da aka kawo ba tare da tsari ba. Yana cika ma'anar Premier League ta kanta ta ƙwararre a VAR — ɗaya daga cikin jami'ai kusan goma da suka kammala shirin horon gaggawa da ya fara kakar uku da suka wuce. Derby ta Lahadi ita ce bayyanarsa ta 65 a matsayin jami'in bidiyo, kuma cigaban nasa ya isa ya sa shi cikin jerin ƙasa da ƙasa, tare da nadin ayyuka a gasar kulob ɗin Uefa na bazara.

Duk da haka, kuskurori na ci gaba a cikin tsarin. Ƙoƙarin Pro Ref na gina ƙungiya ta musamman ta VARs ya ba da sakamako iri-iri. Lee Mason da Mike Riley — masu riƙe VAR na cikakken lokaci tilo da aka nada a Premier League bayan ritaya — dukkansu Howard Webb, shugaban alkalai, ya kore su cikin watanni bayan nadinsa saboda jerin kuskurori. A Spain, La Liga tana aiki da cikakken jerin jami'ai waɗanda ke aiki a matsayin VARs kawai ba tare da jagorantar wasa a filin ba, amma rikici a can bai yi ƙasa ba.

Akwai kuma rawar mai goyon bayan VAR, wanda ke zaune a ɗakin ayyuka a Stockley Park, wanda zai iya shiga tsakani a matsalolin ka'ida. Wannan jami'in ya san abin da ke faruwa yayin bitar derby. Ba a ɗauki wani mataki ba.

Webb ya amince cewa ƙungiyar VAR ba ta ma yi la'akari da matsayin Fernandez ba. Tambayar da Premier League ke fuskanta yanzu ita ce ko ƙoƙarinta na yanke hukunci da sauri ya ƙirƙira yanayin da ɗa'a da ake bukata don bitar da kyau tana narkar da ita a hankali.