Thursday, March 28, 2024

Tennis star Djokovic backs VAR despite Serbia controversy

SoccerNews in General Soccer News 24 Jun 2018

139 Views

Former world tennis number one Novak Djokovic has backed the introduction of VAR at the World Cup, despite seeing homeland Serbia denied a penalty in their defeat to Switzerland.

Serbia saw their lead evaporate in a fiery 2-1 defeat to Group E rivals Switzerland in Kaliningrad on Friday.

Mladen Krstajic’s side were left angered when their appeals were turned down after goalscorer Aleksandar Mitrovic was dragged to the ground in a tangle with Stephan Lichtsteiner and Fabian Schar.

While disappointed with the result and VAR’s failure to award a spot-kick, Serbia’s 12-time grand slam champion Djokovic said he has been impressed with the technology.

“It is what it is. I wasn’t in a great mood [after the result], but I thought they played well for first part of the game. After that, it was all Switzerland,” said Djokovic, who faces Marin Cilic in the Fever-Tree Championships final on Sunday.

“Things could have been different if we had a penalty there. I don’t know why the referee didn’t decide to review it on the technology.

“Overall, I think technology has been used pretty well so far. Maybe there were situations like this, like the one [between Serbia and Switzerland], where the referee should have decided to at least see it, but it’s in their hands.

“Sometimes they can’t really see every situation, so I understand that they have to follow, in a way, the flow of the game and choose when to review it, choose when not.

“I thought there were some big decisions in the World Cup that were made, changed because of technology. I think that’s something that was expected already more than 10 years ago in football, and I don’t know why they waited for so long, but it’s refreshing to see it.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

SoccerNews

Soccernews.com is news blog for soccer with comprehensive coverage of all the major leagues in Europe, as well as MLS in the United States. In addition we offer breaking news for transfers and transfer rumors, ticket sales, betting tips and offers, match previews, and in-depth editorials.

You can follow us on Facebook: Facebook.com/soccernews.com or Twitter: @soccernewsfeed.

SHARE OR COMMENT ON THIS ARTICLE

WE RECOMMEND

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This field is required *

Join the conversation!

or Register

Live Scores

advertisement

Betting Guide Advertisement

advertisement

Become a Writer
More More
Top