May 24, 2026

Fiji coach not happy with ref, slams VAR arrival

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Fiji coach Rob Sherman have made his thoughts crystal clear about the upcoming use of VAR in OFC tournaments.

Fiji’s coach Robert Sherman. (Photo: OFC Media via Phototek)

Following the bronze final loss in the OFC Nations Cup the Welshman, who’s Fiji side lost 2-1 to Tahiti, made the comments on the back of what he thought was a poor performance from New Zealand referee CK Kawana-Waugh in the match.

“We don’t seem to get much out of that referee,” he said.

Kawana-Waugh also refereed Fiji in their group stage match with Tahiti in Suva, as well as in the semi-final against Vanuatu.

“There’s things going on at both teams and yet it seems we are getting penalised for pulling the shirt and they’re not,” Shermand said of the bronze final.

The OFC have previously stated they hope Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system will “be up and running for ‘practice’ at OFC tournaments later this year, with the aim to have VAR introduced at competitions in 2025, in preparation for the proposed OFC Pro League.”

But the impending entrance of VAR is not something Sherman is looking forward to, despite his views on the standard of refereeing in the Nations Cup bronze final.

“No, no. I hate VAR. Ultimately the ref’s in charge. I really loathe VAR. It’s just another subjective view. At the end of the day we have to trust the ref. Regardless of my criticism there, the ref is the guy and we need to trust him,” Sherman said.

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2 thoughts on “Fiji coach not happy with ref, slams VAR arrival

  1. Y. Blame the ref
    Fiji coach had such experience players on bench
    Y want to utilise players who couldn’t perform seems he is blind that he couldn’t make constructive Decisions to make substitutes
    Vanuatu and Tahiti both played impressive display of football walking through the midfield area of team Fiji and yet the coach wants to come out on media and criticize the REF for not doing his job
    Bloody joke of the day

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