ISL 2020-21: SC East Bengal coach Robbie Fowler calls for VAR to be introduced in league

Vasco: Unhappy with what he called some “blatant” refereeing decisions against his side, SC East Bengal head coach Robbie Fowler has called for the introduction of Video Assistant Referee (VAR) in the Indian Super League (ISL). SC East Bengal suffered their third defeat on the trot on Saturday, going down to NorthEast United 0-2, and Fowler claimed that two refereeing decisions went against his side. “I thought the decision (of not giving penalties) were blatant. Certainly the first one in the first half was clear-cut. The second one, for me, was clear cut as well,” Fowler said. In the 20th minute Maghoma, after taking a touch in the box, was tripped by NorthEast United FC’s Mehta but the referee waved play on. At the hour mark, SCEB had another penalty claim when Anthony Pilkington’s shot at goal seemed to have brushed a NEUFC defender’s arm before being parried by the keeper. “Referees might need a bit of help, I know they are doing a tough job. When you get two blatant penalties wrong like that, it is tough to take for a manager. I’m going to say ‘yes’ (for VAR),” Fowler said. The VAR was introduced by the world football governing body in 2018 and since then it has copped questions whether it was improving or damaging the beautiful game. The Liverpool legend, however, admitted that he was “not a huge fan of VAR”. “I think it slows the game at times,” he said. Fowler also came down heavily on their defence especially in the closing stages when they conceded a sloppy goal from NEUFC substitute Rochharzela. “Sometimes it is schoolboy football (while defending). Probably our worst performance so far, we have lacked dynamics but we hope to get it right,” the Englishman said. “When you are a professional footballer, you need to realise what’s at stake. We will work on that on the training pitch.” Yet to open their account, bottom-placed SCEB will next face Jamshedpur FC on 10 December.