UEFA rubbishes Sweden camp’s criticism of VAR support at Euro 2022

UEFA has rubbished claims from the Sweden camp that video assistant referee support at the Women’s Euros has not been on a par with the men’s game.

On the eve of their semi-final clash with England, Sweden stand-in captain Kosovare Asllani criticised the governing body for “using 50 per cent fewer cameras” at the tournament than at Euro 2020 last summer, labelling the situation a “catastrophe”.

Meanwhile, head coach Peter Gerhardsson also bemoaned the VAR, with Sweden having seen five goals ruled out for offside during the tournament.

“There shouldn’t be a difference if it’s women’s football or men’s football,” said Gerhardsson. “Of course it’s not good enough.

“My feeling is sometimes we put too much trust in it. Even if it’s an offside that’s very obvious then you wait for the VAR decision, you don’t know until the ref whistles if it’s a goal or not.

“We’re going to have to hope that they’ve looked at improving themselves for the semi-final.”

UEFA, though, insists the infrastructure in place for VAR stands up against that used in the highest level of the men’s game.

“The TV production for UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 is on a par with the standard production for the men’s UEFA Champions League,” a UEFA spokesperson said.

“More importantly, VAR camera support at UEFA Women’s EURO 2022 is higher than for the men’s UEFA Champions League and men’s UEFA EURO due to the availability of additional offside and EPTS (Electronic Performance and Tracking Systems) cameras.”

Sweden face hosts England at Bramall Lane on Tuesday night, when there is likely to be additional scrutiny on any calls made by VAR Pol van Boekel and his team.