Unlike in that crucial moment of Saturday’s Liverpool-Tottenham game, NWSL referees are not armed with two-dimensional lines to draw across a replay. They do not have the benefit of semi-automated offside, which was used at the 2023 World Cup. They also do not have goal-line technology, nor any cameras on the end lines to provide a definitive angle on would-be goals (which, you guessed it, has been an issue in the NWSL this season).
Instead, they are at the mercy of the camera angles that they have, which often are not enough to truly make a definitive call on where the offside line is. By the letter of the law — that a decision must include a “clear and obvious error” to be reversed — NWSL referees are often handcuffed to the call made on the field for lack of sufficient video evidence. Except when they are not.
On Saturday in Chicago, with Racing Louisville trailing the Red Stars in the second half, Louisville midfielder Savannah DeMelo was taken down in the box by Chicago midfielder Julia Bianchi. Referee Sergii Demianchuk pointed to the spot for a penalty kick, which looked obvious in real time. The next four minutes were spent in consultation with the VAR, Luis Guardia, and included an extended look at the makeshift monitor setup on a rolling media cart at midfield in SeatGeek Stadium.
“This is one of the most important VAR decisions of the entire season,” commentator Mike Watts said on the broadcast during the stoppage. As Demianchuk emerged from the monitor to deliver the verdict, Watts added: “Here is a season-changing decision.”
Demianchuk jogged back to the penalty area, made the universal “TV” sign for VAR review, and motioned for a drop ball. No penalty.
The decision was shocking, not so much in that it was an egregious error but because there appeared to be no evidence to support the determination of a clear and obvious error. Bianchi most certainly makes contact with DeMelo in the box. Exactly how much and how forcefully — or whether she mostly gets the ball — could only be determined by a reverse angle that did not exist. (Viewers at home are privy to the same replays that appear on the monitor for the referee’s review.)
If the call on the field was a penalty, it should have stood based on the evidence available.
Asked by a pool reporter after the game why the call was overturned, and what the clear and obvious error was, Demianchuk’s written response was: “The defender played the ball prior to making contact with the opponent.”
This is not about one referee or one incident, to be clear. VAR’s rollout in the NWSL has been hit-and-miss since the opening weekend when Angel City FC was twice on the wrong end of harsh decisions that changed the entire complexion of a home match against NJ/NY Gotham FC.
Earlier in September during a video review of a goal, referee Alyssa Nichols asked whether a player interfered with an opponent and the assistant VAR said, “We would need a different angle.” No other angle was shown to Nichols and Angel City was awarded a goal. Professional Referee Organization later said the goal should not have counted because the player did interfere with an opponent.
VAR is both a solution and another layer of complication — that is not unique to the NWSL. What is unique to the NWSL is that VAR has arrived without ample technological support.
All NWSL games in 2023 use HD cameras and fiber transmission, according to a league spokesperson. The rare games aired on CBS, including Friday’s farewell to Megan Rapinoe and the NWSL Championship scheduled for Nov. 11, utilize 14 cameras. Games that air on CBS Sports Network and that are streamed on Paramount+ have only six cameras, two more than they did for most of last season.
The slight numerical increase and improvement to broadcast-quality cameras happened in August 2022 in response to increasing problems with match streams. It was a product fix that also ostensibly helped with the implementation of VAR. All those upgrades likely cost seven figures.
Perhaps we’ve entered the era of champagne problems for the NWSL, which is part of becoming big-time as the league wants to (and should) be. Thus far, “more” is still not enough. Premier League games, to use the most extreme example, are captured by at least 30 cameras. MLS had a previous minimum of eight cameras per broadcast.
In that light, some of the issues with VAR in NWSL — emphasis on “some,” because there are still plenty of improvements to be made in the officiating overall — can be viewed through the lens of the league’s inadequate media rights deal.
