Fabio Capello Attacks VAR and Referees: “They Are Like Mafia”

“This Drives Me Nuts”. Why Fabio Capello Has Declared War on Referees and VAR

“Referees are a mafia. They don’t want to use ex-players for VAR, players who know the ins and outs of football, how a player moves to stop or help themselves.”

Fabio Capello can be pretty tough on referees. In a long interview with Marca, the former Roma, Milan, Juve and Real Madrid coach has a go at referees and the use of VAR.

VAR Without Football Sense. Capello Wants Ex-Players in the Booth

“A lot of the time,” Capello says, “they make the wrong decisions because they haven’t played and don’t know those moves. One player is touched in the face, falls to the ground, and the whistle is blown. But why blow the whistle? If I’m 1.90 metres tall and the other guy is 1.75 metres tall, when I move my arm it’s at the height of his face, so why blow the whistle? This whole thing is driving me nuts, completely crazy.” Capello says it’s important to have a former player on the team of refs who look at the images. “Get someone there who can tell the ref: ‘Well, I don’t think it’s a penalty, or maybe it is. With UEFA, we looked at 20 situations where penalties were given, and these were checked by ex-players and coaches. Out of these, 6 were penalties and 14 weren’t.”

A Bigger Italian Problem. From VAR to Youth Football: Capello’s Alarm Bell for Italy

So, about Italian football and the risk of not getting to play in the World Cup for the third time in a row. “There’s one Italian in Milan’s starting eleven; only two at Juventus; four or five at Inter; two or three at Roma. That’s the key. Looking to the future, there aren’t many opportunities on the horizon. The training system has failed; there’s a lot of tactics and not much football. This is Italy’s problem. Kids are playing tactics at 12 – why start using tactics now? You’ve got to keep passing the ball and understand the basics of football. I lived in Spain, and I saw that kids like to pass the ball back and forth. Technique, technique… Football’s gone faster now, so if you’re not on the ball, you’re going to struggle. We’re talking about pressing then.”