24 April 2026; Derry City goalkeeper Eddie Beach clears the ball during the SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division match between Derry City and Shamrock Rovers at Find Insurance Celtic Park. Photo by Stephen McCarthy/Sportsfile
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VAR horrors join death and taxes on the list of certainties in life
Thank God they can’t afford it in the LOI
Cathal Dervan, Editor
There were no such things as rules for what we commonly now call Association Football when Benjamin Franklin famously wrote that in this world nothing can be said to be certain except death and taxes.
Mr Franklin penned that famous phrase in a letter, the historical equivalent of an email, back in 1789. He wrote it some 74 years before the first Laws of the Game were published and some 97 years before the establishment of the International Football Association Board to uphold such laws.
The very institution that is IFAB is back in the news this week after recommending to FIFA that players who cover their mouths when confronting opponents at the World Cup this summer should be red carded.
The proposal, adopted by IFAB in time for this summer’s tournament and to be discussed by FIFA at their Congress in Canada today, is a welcome one given some of the racist and homophobic abuse we have seen on the pitch in recent times.
Just last week, the Benfica winger Prestianni was handed a six game ban for homophobic behaviour towards Real Madrid’s Vinicius Jr during their Champions League game in Lisbon back in February. Vinicius Jr had claimed racist abuse on the night but that was downgraded to homophobia as UEFA took action last Friday.
We know IFAB won’t make any recommendations on VAR protocols when they sit down with the other FIFA big wigs in Canada today but they might get the chance to have a word or two with their European colleagues in between the lectures and the banquets.
And if they do, they might just look back at last night’s Champions League semi-final between Atletico and Arsenal in Madrid.
It was a game that ended 1-1 with all the talk afterwards about three penalties, two of them given and converted (to borrow a phrase from rugby) and one that was awarded then overturned after Dutch ref Danny Makkelie was called to the sideline for a review by the Video Assistant referee into the Hancke ‘foul’ on Eze.
As so often happens when the match official runs to see what the video official sees constantly on his television screen, Makkelie had a quick change of mind and rescinded said penalty, much to the ire of everyone from Mikel Arteta to Ian Wright to even Steven Gerrard.
Very few, aside from those with an Atletico affection, could agree with the decision to over-rule how Makkelie had reacted in real time. And not for the first time, a game of chess dressed up as the first leg of a Champions League semi-final was shrouded in controversy over a VAR decision.
Said controversy has dominated every headline since the final whistle blew last night and it will rumble on all the way to Tuesday night’s return in North London. Which is a real shame.
Sure, the game never matched the free-scoring love-in of PSG’s 5-4 win over Bayern Munich 24 hours earlier, but it was never going to do so with two managers hell bent on stifling any creativity from the opposition.
It was still a bloody good game of football with two penalties that were rightly given and one that should have stayed as a ‘given’ just as the referee’s instinct had told him in the first instance.
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A VAR controversy was also probably always going to be a ‘given’ last night. We can’t seem to have an elite level game of football these days without someone bemoaning VAR.
Which makes me very glad that the FAI and the League of Ireland just don’t have the finances available right now to bring VAR into our domestic game.
They may well, in the not too distant future, do what their Northern Ireland colleagues are doing and start to trial a VAR Lite offering, the one turned down by Championship clubs of late.
But even that is a step too far if you ask me. Let’s go back to trusting our referees to make decisions of their own accord, even if they can make mistakes sometimes.
They are human after all and human mistakes are certainties - just like death and taxes.
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The pressure is on... Football Writer Darryl Geraghty and editor Cathal Dervan look ahead to Friday night's Premier League action in the League of Ireland and ask which manager is under most pressure this weekend.
A former Palestine football team captain has called on the Ireland players, the Green Army and the Irish media to boycott the scheduled Nations League games against Israel in the autumn.
Imad Zatara played in the 2006 World Cup qualifiers with Palestine and won 28 caps for his country between 2004 and 2015.
With the FAI adamant that the games against Israel will go ahead, away in September and at the Aviva Stadium in early October, Zatara made the plea to scrap the game in an interview with Irish journalist Philip O’Connor.
Swedish based O’Connor has published his full interview online at www.philipoconnor.com and it is quoted extensively on the Irish Mirror website as Zatara highlights his desire for the Israel games to be nullified despite the FAI’s insistence it goes ahead.
Zatara told O’Connor: “I would like the (Irish) people to show their opinion as much as possible, and to be clear that what is happening in Palestine is not okay. It must be stopped.
“I know that sport should not be compared to war and so on, but I’m afraid sport today is more than just sport – it’s love, it’s friendship, you can reach so many more people through football.
“We have to put a stop to this together, and I think and I hope that this match can be stopped.”
With the Palestinian crisis ongoing, Zatara made a plea to the Ireland players ahead of the autumn fixtures and said: “The only thing I can say to them is not to play this game - and not just them. The TV viewers, the broadcasters, everything should be boycotted, because this has to stop.
“No-one can do everything, but if everyone does something in their power - you have the power to not play the game, we have the power to not watch it, the TV channels have the power to not show it.
“If, one after another, we all do our jobs, we can be stronger together. To just not play that game - that alone would be huge.”
Cork City have promoted Liam Kearney to the role of Director of Football as the club shake up their coaching department ahead of the new government funding for LOI academies.
Former City player Kearney has served as Academy Director for the past five and a half years with the Irish Examiner’s John Fallon reporting that the club will look to backfill his Academy Director vacancy with a new recruit.
“I am delighted to accept this role and firmly believe that there is much I can do as Director of Football to grow the club across all of its teams,” said Kearney.
“I have a long association with this club and care passionately about it. My experience with the Academy tells me that this club’s best years are ahead of it, and I look forward to working with the various coaching teams to build on what has been achieved to date.
“I cannot wait to get going, starting with the recruitment process for a new women’s senior manager.”
Liverpool fans will get their chance to say goodbye to Mo Salah in a manner befitting his glittering Anfield career with the club reporting positive news on his hamstring injury.
Salah was forced off in the second-half of Saturday’s win against Crystal Palace with reports afterwards suggesting he could have played his last game for Liverpool before his departure this summer.
The BBC reports that Liverpool have revealed that the injury is unlikely to keep him out for the rest of the season meaning he should be fit to play for the Reds again and to lead Egypt at the World Cup finals.
A statement from the club said that the problem is a ‘minor muscle injury’ and that it is ‘anticipated’ that the forward will recover in time to feature again before leaving the club with their final game of the season at home to Brentford on May 24th.
Iran’s World Cup future will be discussed without them at the FIFA Congress in Canada after visa issues at Toronto Airport forced their three man delegation to return home.
RTE reports that the Iranian Federation’s President Mehdi Taj, secretary general Hedayat Mombeini and his deputy Hamed Momeni had arrived with visas to participate in Thursday’s congress.
They caught the next plane home however after visa issues emerged which they blamed on Canadian immigration officials.
Iranian news agency Tasnim has claimed that FIFA President Gianni Infantino has promised to arrange a meeting with the Iranian Federation at FIFA headquarters in Switzerland.
FIFA remains adamant that Iran will play in the World Cup this summer when they are scheduled to play New Zealand, Belgium and Egypt.
Cardiff City manager Brian Barry Murphy is bringing it all home as he prepares for life in the Championship next season with a summer training camp in Cork.
The Irish Examiner reports that the Bluebird will be based on Leeside in mid-July for the camp which will include two friendly games against local opposition, most likely Cork City and Cobh Ramblers.
Son of Cork GAA legend Jimmy Barry Murphy, Brian will include Irishmen Callum Robinson and Joel Bagan in his travelling squad.
All photos on TheSportsHacks are provided by Sportsfile.com
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