13-05-2025
- Sport
- South China Morning Post
Football bosses observing VAR officials? Tai Po coach calls for transparency
Lee Chi-kin, the Tai Po head coach, has called for more transparency around football's use of VAR, and lamented a series of damaging calls against his team.
During a potentially season-wrecking recent run, Tai Po conceded penalties in four straight matches, as they lost two cup semi-finals and drew a pair of league fixtures to surrender top spot to Lee Man.
Lee claimed his players were 'scared to touch anyone in the box' during a restorative 3-2 victory at BC Rangers on Saturday.
'You can imagine the pressure on our players … it's a problem now – not a normal situation,' Lee said. 'I'm angry about it.'
Tai Po felt Noah Baffoe (right) fouled Gabriel Cividini (left) before scoring. Photo: Jonathan Wong
In addition to the penalty decisions, Tai Po felt wronged when a shove on defender Gabriel Cividini went unpunished in the lead-up to Eastern's first FA Cup semi-final goal. Lee also attributed his team's chronic injury situation to opponents being allowed to rough them up with impunity.
