SFA chief insists ‘VAR works’ but admits ‘teething troubles’

The Hampden boss has defended the use of VAR in the Scottish Premiership and insists work will be done to improve the technology after it was implemented in October.

It comes after Malky Mackay blasted VAR calls in Ross County’s loss to Celtic as he suggested it could result in people losing their jobs.

But Maxwell – citing the short time since VAR was introduced in Scotland – has vowed to keep working to improve the system.

“The technology works, there’s no doubt about it,” Maxwell told STV. “Refereeing has always been controversial. Decisions are always subjective and that goes on.

“We’re not saying it’s been perfect so far and we’re obviously working as hard as we can to try to improve it.

“I think it’s worth noting that we’ve only been in VAR for five or six months and there are countries that have had it a lot longer than we have that are still struggling.

“We want it to be as smooth and hassle-free as possible, and we’re working hard to make that happen.”

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When asked about his response to Mackay’s concerns about the impact of VAR, Maxwell said, “We want decisions to be right. The reason for implementing VAR was to increase the number of decisions we make on the pitch.

“Obviously there were teething problems, but that is part of the implementation and part of an onboarding process. We want to make sure as many decisions as possible are made on the pitch.”

Mackay had said on Sunday: “I’ve watched the penalty kick about half a dozen times and can’t believe the bar is set with VAR at the moment.

“Two players boldly approach the ball with their heads. Carter-Vickers and Alex Iacovitti both toss their heads at it and the ball goes between their heads and hits Alex on the back of his arm. It’s ball to arm.

“Someone has to explain to me how to jump after a ball in the box and have your arms at your sides. It can’t happen physically. I look at where the bar is in England and where it is in Scotland and at the moment we’re not where they are.

“The clubs pay for it. I’m looking at the standards right now and there are bugs everywhere. It costs. It will cost jobs, it will cost clubs promotion, relegation, Europe, whatever you want to call it. I was really disappointed that I intervened like that.”