Oh VAR. What can be said about you that hasn’t been said already. You are marmite, truly. A love-hate element of football that splits opinions like no other. The idea was so pure, so simple, and yet the execution is just baffling at best; downright terrible at worst.
People had been clamouring for some kind of technology for years and years. In England it was particularly called for after the Frank Lampard ghost-goal in the 2010 World Cup. I was about to explain the situation, but I feel that is probably a waste. If you know, you know.
Goal line technology was introduced on mass in 2014 and that has genuinely been a revelation. It is essentially the hawk-eye technology used in professional tennis and is virtually flawless. When murmurs of video assisted refereeing was discussed, there was much anticipation. For many, this only ended in disappointment.
You can argue until you’re blue in the face whether VAR should or should not be involved in football, but to my mind it is a pointless argument, as it isn’t going anywhere. The cynic in me thinks that VAR didn’t come into play to help the game, it was established because there is so much money involved in football that the threat of legal issues blighting the beautiful game was imminent.
Cynical, sure. But wrong? You decide. The rules, traditionally, were always protected by the phrase “in the opinion of the referee”, which basically was a big old get out of jail free card for the men/women in black/yellow/green etc. But things were at breaking point. Decision after decision was being replayed and rewound by more and more cameras. Slowed down, sped up, flipped, and reversed. Refereeing was a thankless task, and these officials were being chastised for their decisions made in a split second. Given that a dodgy red card or penalty could cost a manager their job, or investors a lot of money, the switch to a greater power was, sadly, inevitable.
My gripe is less with the concept of VAR, but instead with the application. It kills the joy. Due to Covid and living further away, I don’t get to as many live games these days, but the last few I’ve been to I’ve seen my team score, and I’ve not really celebrated. I’ve had a second of joy, followed by a panicked looked at the ref. I do the same on TV all the time. The winning goal of the World Cup final was a thriller, but I don’t remember any joy exciting me as I assumed it would be chopped off.
I recall watching a Bournemouth game a few seasons ago where they scored from a corner and celebrated. The ref ruled it out. There wasn’t a foul in the goal, there was a foul in the build-up to their corner. Over two minutes between foul and goal. Over five between foul and the disallowing of the goal. Not only was it a mood killer, but the time… it’s too long.
I know a lot of people have a general hatred of American Football for some reason. You tell someone you like it and you get “it’s just rugby in pads” or some inane chat like that. But they have a good use of the system. Flags. You get to throw a challenge flag if you don’t believe the official got the call right. The game stops and a video review takes place. This sport is a lot more stop-start, so it isn’t directly comparable, but I believe this could be implemented into football with ease.
Give each manager, say, three flags for the game, or one per half maybe. Keep goal line technology, but everything else, penalties, red cards, offsides etc, let that be a coach’s challenge. If they win the challenge, keep the flag. If they are proved wrong, they lose it.
Crucially as well, whether the current VAR system continues, or whether it changes as I hope it does, FIFA simply have to speed the process up. It kills the joy and slows the game down. The rules state ‘clear and obvious’, but will watch a decision several times over, using multiple angles and slowing it down. This simply is not clear and obvious. If it takes you ten views at multiple angles to decide if a pass is offside, or if a foul was or wasn’t, it isn’t clear and obvious. The assistant should be allowed to view the replay three times in real time. Allow different angles obviously, to help get a fuller picture, but three real-speed replays would speed up a decision and keep it clear and obvious.
I have loved football since I was ten years old, and yet with each passing year since the introduction of VAR, I find myself falling further and further out of love with the once-beautiful game. There’s a myriad of reasons for this disillusion of football. It’s more commercial now than in 2006. The players I grew up watching are almost all retired now. Even getting to a local game costs a small fortune. However, I still maintain the use of VAR is the real kicker.
Getting decisions right is important, but keeping the game pure, for the fans worldwide, this is more important. I grew up walking home from Tannadice Park furious at referees. Rarely I’d be gleeful. “I can’t believe he gave us that penalty, he had a shocker. I love it!” It’s a talking point. Or rather, was a talking point. Not anymore.
This is a champagne problem, a top-flight one. I guess there is something in the grassroots football, support local thing that people delight in shouting from the rooftops, and that is great. But what if you support Manchester United, or Barcelona. Not everyone is a gloryhunter. Some fans are just that, genuine fans. Why should they be forced to give up their club for the sake of some ‘proper’ football.
I’m just a guy. I’m just someone ranting into my laptop, hoping one or two people read this. I am not the one to bring about a societal change in football. But I’m not alone. Fans aren’t happy. Players and managers aren’t overly happy. There’s an appetite for change, but as with most things FIFA, it’ll be a long time coming, and no doubt largely unhelpful.
Are you happy with VAR? What changes, if any, would you make? Give us a reply if you have any thoughts, we’d love to discuss it.
Heart of Football 
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