The ongoing discussions regarding future structural changes to the game, such as the introduction of new tournaments (eg. Fifa Club World Cup), further intensify this challenge. These changes have the potential to significantly reduce the downtime available to elite players, affecting their recovery and overall well-being.
During Saturday's game between the Red Sox and the Reds, Eugenio Suarez challenged Bucknor on back-to-back strike three calls and successfully had them overturned by the robo ump. It doesn't matter that Suarez ultimately grounded out. What matters is that, in a game where the Reds hit two home runs, the loudest cheers came for a pair of successful ABS challenges.
The idea that the Automated Balls and Strikes challenge system is going to constantly humiliate umpires is, to me, a ridiculous concern. We're talking about hundreds of calls in a game, with upwards of 100 games per week, and 99.9% of the time, ABS doesn't even factor into a pitch at all.
In the game between Venezuela and the Netherlands last Friday, Blue Jays shortstop Andrés Giménez was hit by a pitch from Netherlands pitcher Jaydenn Estanista. Fortunately, Giménez was okay, according to Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet, but ultimately sat out the next game for Venezuela either due to matchups or precautionary measures.
On Thursday, federal prosecutors in Philadelphia brought charges against 26 people they say were involved in a scheme to fix bets on college basketball and Chinese Basketball Association games. The point-shaving scheme, according to a 70-page indictment unsealed that morning, involved at least three dozen players on 17 different teams. Twenty of the defendants played college basketball during at least one of the 2023-24 and 2024-25 NCAA seasons.
One poor decision is forgivable, two is careless, but there were a hat-trick of howlers, with Tammy Abraham clearly offside for Aston Villa's opener. Lucas Digne needed his own dedicated review booth, escaping with a yellow card for an agricultural tackle on Jacob Murphy and avoiding a penalty for handball. Officials ruled that Digne handled the ball outside the penalty area, an impressive feat given that he both took off and landed inside the box as he jumped to block a cross.
After a day full of long delays, mixed messages and irate managers in early February, ex-Tottenham midfielder Danny Murphy told BBC Match of the Day: "For the good of the game, you'd have VAR gone. "The problem is what it is doing to the games, to the spectacle, with the amount of time it takes to get there. "Do you want more right decisions or do you want a more free-flowing football experience that is genuine and spur of the moment?"
