Suarez criticises VAR: ‘You lose the desire to celebrate’

Luis Suarez criticises VAR after Barcelona’s crushing 8-2 victory against the newly-promoted La Liga side SD Huesca.

Video Assistant Refereeing has been used in several major football tournaments since the last few years, including the 2018 FIFA World Cup. Several top European leagues have been beneficiaries of the newly introduced technology, La Liga Santander being the latest one of those across the reputed ones in Europe.

So far in three match weeks, there have been 29 matches played and VAR has already been used extensively by the referees to make sure that the decisions do justice. One of the latest ones was during Barcelona’s 8-2 thumping of newcomers SD Huesca. Luis Suarez got two goals, the first of which was awarded upon consultation with the VAR systems.

Following the match, he was interviewed and provided his thoughts on the VAR, which has garnered mixed responses.

“When you have doubts, with the VAR, you’ll lose your adrenaline and desire to celebrate. It’s a blow to your happiness. You can’t make mistakes as everything is so controlled. I always want to help the team in every way and if it’s with goals, even better,” said Suarez.

A few weeks ago, Luis Suarez also had a famous Twitter conversation with Real Madrid legend Iker Casillas after a controversial penalty was awarded to France in the FIFA World Cup final. The same was done by Argentinian referee Nestor Pitana who consulted VAR in a decision that thereby led to France’s second of four goals.

Also read: La Liga 2018/19: Things we learnt from Barcelona vs Huesca

Another tournament that will see the debut of the VAR will be the UEFA Nations League that gets underway soon with the first international break of the season already on. So far, La Liga has seen a lot of decisions coming through VAR, including Roque Mesa’s red card in the Seville Derby on Sunday.

Barcelona are currently table toppers after thrashing Huesca 8-2. They have a 100% record in La Liga Santander alongside Real Madrid and face Real Sociedad next.