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Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos to visit S.Korea -official
Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos to visit S.Korea -official
Netflix Inc's co-Chief Executive Officer Ted Sarandos is planning to visit South Korea, a Seoul-based Netflix official said
2023-06-07 10:33
Attorney General Garland set to face his GOP critics as Justice Department is under heavy scrutiny
Attorney General Garland set to face his GOP critics as Justice Department is under heavy scrutiny
Attorney General Merrick Garland is set to come face-to-face with his most ardent critics as House Republicans prepare to use a routine oversight hearing to interrogate him about what they claim is the “weaponization” of the Justice Department under President Joe Biden
2023-09-20 17:02
Whirlpool profit slides as inflation hits appliance demand
Whirlpool profit slides as inflation hits appliance demand
Whirlpool Corp reported a 29.5% slide in quarterly profit on Monday as persistent inflation hit consumer spending, weakening
2023-07-25 05:06
Iraqi officials condemn demolition of 300-year-old minaret in Basra
Iraqi officials condemn demolition of 300-year-old minaret in Basra
Condemnation grew in Iraq after a 300-year-old minaret, viewed as a heritage site by the Ministry of Culture, was demolished in the southern city of Basra on Friday.
2023-07-18 00:32
Kelly Clarkson confirms amicable relationship with Carrie Underwood: 'There’s no beef between us'
Kelly Clarkson confirms amicable relationship with Carrie Underwood: 'There’s no beef between us'
'We don't even know each other well enough to be pitted against each other,' said Kelly Clarkson
2023-06-29 02:33
Byju’s Lenders Accused by Lawyer of Using Bogus Default Claims
Byju’s Lenders Accused by Lawyer of Using Bogus Default Claims
Lenders to one of India’s hottest tech startups, Byju’s, created bogus default claims tied to $1.2 billion in
2023-08-05 02:52
Barbecue Index Shows South African Food Inflation Is Easing
Barbecue Index Shows South African Food Inflation Is Easing
Food prices in South Africa continue to increase at a startling rate, although the pace of acceleration is
2023-06-12 13:00
Stanton homers and drives in 4 to power Cole, Yankees to 7-2 win over McClanahan and Rays
Stanton homers and drives in 4 to power Cole, Yankees to 7-2 win over McClanahan and Rays
Giancarlo Stanton homered and drove in four runs to lead Gerrit Cole and the New York Yankees past the Tampa Bay Rays 7-2, preventing a three-game sweep
2023-08-03 10:13
How did George Brown die? 'Kool & The Gang' co-founder and drummer who also wrote songs for the band was 74
How did George Brown die? 'Kool & The Gang' co-founder and drummer who also wrote songs for the band was 74
George Brown was receiving treatment at Nagourney Cancer Institute before his death
2023-11-18 03:00
Braves superstar catcher Sean Murphy should be getting way more MVP love than this
Braves superstar catcher Sean Murphy should be getting way more MVP love than this
Sean Murphy should be in serious discussions for NL MVP, alongside front-runner and his Atlanta Braves teammate, Ronald Acuña Jr.Although Ronald Acuña Jr. is quite literally running away with NL MVP at the halfway point, his new Atlanta Braves teammate Sean Murphy is putting togeth...
2023-07-10 00:54
US to attend Beijing defense forum in latest sign of improving ties
US to attend Beijing defense forum in latest sign of improving ties
By Michael Martina and Idrees Ali WASHINGTON The U.S. says it has accepted an invitation to attend China's
2023-10-12 10:29
The Premier League now faces a credibility ‘crisis’ – and latest VAR farce is just the tip
The Premier League now faces a credibility ‘crisis’ – and latest VAR farce is just the tip
By Saturday evening, as has become protocol but also a frustrating norm, Howard Webb felt he had no choice but to apologise to Liverpool for the Luis Diaz decision. Jurgen Klopp might well repeat the question as to who that actually helps, but a failure to communicate such a sentiment would have made it worse. That’s partly because it is actually a failure of communication that is at the core of the controversy, which now poses a genuine credibility crisis for the Premier League. "It's an image problem," as one involved figure put it, with Liverpool themselves describing the situation as “unacceptable” in an unprecedented statement. Because, for all the focus on the nature of VAR, this is an issue that really comes down to basic human error. The details at the root of the story, though, are remarkable. If we are to take the referees’ body Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL)’s explanation at face value – that this represented a “momentary lapse in concentration” – the VAR didn’t actually know what it was supposed to be looking at. Darren England and Dan Cook thought they were checking whether a goal should stand, rather than an offside call as referee Simon Hooper ruled, which was partly why the decision was made so quickly. It ended up creating the farcical situation that a communication of “check complete” led to a fair strike being wrongly disallowed in a completely preventable fashion. After that, how was it that play was allowed to proceed, given those involved would have had immediate knowledge that this was wrong? The IFAB rules dictate that play cannot be called back once it has resumed, but was no one watching in the meantime? Would hasty shouts not have been made as soon as they saw Spurs shaping to take the free kick? It has since emerged that the VAR and fourth official team of England, Cook and Michael Oliver were officiating a game in the UAE Pro League as late as Thursday evening, which has raised fair questions within the game over fatigue was a potential explanation for that “momentary lapse in concentration”. Whatever the reason, it has created a credibility crisis, to go with much wider-reaching controversies like the unresolved Financial Fair Play cases involving Manchester City and Everton. That is all the worse for the Premier League since this is an issue the competition prides itself on and is seen as a significant factor in its status as the most popular league in the world. Fans could trust what they were seeing. Instead, this latest controversy also comes on the back of a long-term and increasing hostility and suspicion of VAR from a significant part of football's support. It was for this reason that Webb was recently brought in as PGMOL chief in the first place, and many within the game say he has been gradually realising the scale of the challenge. Hostility to VAR goes hand in hand with a widely perceived “crisis” in the level of refereeing, which is commonly cited as the worst in years. It should be stressed that this is all in circumstances where officials are under far more scrutiny than ever before. There are more cameras to reveal every element of a decision – and whether they should have taken a different one – in a manner that was unimaginable in the supposed golden days right up to the mid-2000s. Even Klopp acknowledged the extreme “pressure” on officials, which undoubtedly plays into errors that they obviously don’t make “on purpose”, as the Liverpool manager put it. Discussions such as this should never go without mentioning how the real crisis with refereeing is at lower levels, and the scale of the abuse they receive. It has undeniably affected the talent pool at the top, and there is a bigger debate to be had over whether it should be a better-remunerated profession to match both the talent they are overseeing and their necessity in getting the game played. The introduction of VAR itself was nevertheless supposed to be a remedy for all of this and – at its core – an “aid” for referees. It has instead had the inadvertent effect of making all discussion much more poisonous and pressurised. That comes from a disconnect between the implied expectation and stated intention of VAR, the actual application and the communication. The very nature of the technology has created an expectation of perfection, even though it was only ever supposed to improve accuracy to around 98 per cent. This has happened, but the fundamental problem is that the remaining 2 per cent tend to be hugely high-profile errors. That is by definition given the threshold for VAR to get involved. There has previously been very little communication on how those decisions were made, which has had the effect of only deepening suspicion among supporters. The vacuum of information inevitably leads to speculation and then to conspiracy theories. While this isn’t to say there is any legitimacy whatsoever in the latter, since the most likely explanation is always basic human error, it does have the real-world effect of further toxifying the atmosphere around refereeing. This in turn puts even more pressure on them, because their integrity is unfairly questioned. It is why the very technology of VAR has deepened this problem. Whereas error could previously have been written off as officials going off their own sight and instinct – even if the reason VAR was introduced was because of criticism of referees in the first place – they now have access to so much more technological aid. Many more fans consequently see the only possible explanation as some kind of corruption. You only have to take a glance on social media. This is why better communication is essential. Webb’s great mission has been to improve that, and he has generally done a better job, but it’s fair to say the response to Saturday made this worse. Liverpool were perplexed at how long it took for a statement to be made about the offside, the PGMOL eventually only commenting in the middle of Klopp’s post-game press conference. It was actually The Independent that made him aware of their statement, to the Liverpool manager's increased bemusement. The explanation that the VAR actually checked for the wrong call then came even later, as it felt like every development deepened the crisis. There are at least a number of logical steps that can be taken to address that. One of those is not to just remove VAR, since this is a non-starter that goes way beyond England and up to Fifa. It is here to stay. That’s also why it’s just vital that cases like this lead to improvement. One first step is to limit this extra work abroad – as England and Cook’s appointment in the UAE was within the rules and actually approved by the FA. Another is to improve the communication so there is absolutely no ambiguity. It is simple to go from “check complete” to “the decision should be a goal”, or equivalent. That also raises the most obvious solution of all. All of the communication between the referee and VAR should be made audible and accessible, so as to eliminate any ambiguity. People might still disagree with decisions, but they would at least be able to understand why they are made. That goes a long way to creating acceptance of VAR. When it was raised whether the audio from this decision would be made public, one response was that Match Officials Mic’d Up is now a monthly show so it will likely feature on that. The reality is that the Premier League could do with it coming out now, because of the number of questions that are being asked. Liverpool themselves called for the review to have “full transparency”. "This is vital for the reliability of future decision making as it applies to all clubs with learnings being used to make improvements to processes in order to ensure this kind of situation cannot occur again,” the club said. It doesn’t help that this comes amid even greater credibility questions for the Premier League, as everyone awaits the outcome of the charges against Manchester City and Everton over alleged Financial Fair Play breaches. Many of the sport’s “stakeholders” are now livid at this. Even for broadcasters, this affects the credibility of the product they put on television. That trust is what the game is founded on. In the meantime, Liverpool are exploring “the range of options available, given the clear need for escalation and resolution”. An apology, evidently, is not enough. Read More Every VAR apology so far: From Liverpool offside to Man City handball Liverpool to ‘explore options’ in response to ‘unacceptable’ VAR error VAR officials who made Liverpool error took charge of UAE match just 48 hours before Every VAR apology so far: From Liverpool offside to Man City handball More VAR disapproval as Nottingham Forest and Brentford both berate decisions Liverpool to ‘explore options’ in response to ‘unacceptable’ VAR error
2023-10-02 20:42