Welcome to another blogmas post! It’s time for a very different post from me today so let’s get to it.
VAR. That one acronym that makes football scream at their televisions, throw remote controls, and wonder whether their club is actually cursed or if the man in the video booth simply hates them personally. Yes, I’m looking at you, Darren England.
When VAR was first introduced in the Premier League in the 2019-20 season, there were promises of clarity, fairness and fewer referee blunders.
Oh how funny.
What we got instead was debate after debate after debate after debate. Like any good person, I’m adding to that. I’ll discuss what VAR is, how it should work in practice, note the pros and cons and talk about some notable incidents that have occurred. Then you can decide whether it’s yay or nay.
What is VAR?
VAR stands for video assisted referee. The aim of it is to assist referees in association football by reviewing decisions. Video footage is used, providing advice to the referee based on those reviews.
The following instances are reviewed:
- goal/no goal – this is where offsides, handballs, fouls are checked to determine the legitimacy of the goal
- penalty/no penalty
- red card
- mistaken identity
It is worth noting that VAR are always checking a referee’s decision based on the instances above. Sometimes this can be a silent check, meaning that the game will carry on. Other times, there will be a delay.
The basis of the review is whether there is a ‘clear and obvious error.’ There tends to be three outcomes if a review is recommended. A decision can be overturned on advice from VAR, an on-field review will be conducted by the referee by going to a monitor and looking at the video evidence that VAR have used or the referee can ignore the decision. =
Notable Controversies
Luis Diaz Legitimate Goal Ruled Out
In 2023, Luis Diaz thought he had scored a goal for Liverpool against Tottenham. The flag went up for immediately, and on replay, it was clear that he was onside. Despite this, no lines were drawn, there was no communication, and a perfectly legitimate goal was ruled out.
Ivan Toney Goal Should Not Have Stood
Another error in 2023, Brentford equalised through Ivan Toney. On replay, it was clear to see he was offside when the ball was crossed to him. However, no lines were drawn, meaning the goal stood when there was a notable offside.
Rodri Handball
In 2022, a handball from Rodri was not given by VAR despite it being fairly obvious. This cost Everton a valuable point at home, and arguably had a big impact on the title run that season.
I could list more controversies. It seems like something happens every week. However, doing so would mean we would be here all week. Therefore, let’s move on to the pros and cons.
Pros of VAR
Despite what it seems like, there are pros to VAR. Referees do miss things, and VAR allows for there to be a watchful eye. This is particularly noticeable when looking at football leagues that don’t have VAR. There have been campaigns for the Women’s Super League to introduce VAR, with notable offsides being missed or perfectly acceptable goals being ruled out.
Another pro of VAR is it could be argued that it improves player discipline. Constantly having a watchful eye on you would arguably make players more aware of doing things like diving or doing dangerous challenges. Whether that actually happens is another matter.
Cons of VAR
Unfortunately, there are a few cons. I’ve tried to be balanced (I know it doesn’t seem it) when it comes to this but it does seem like the cons far outweigh the pros.
Unfortunately, it can cause confusion. At the beginning, it wasn’t obvious what was happening when VAR were intervening for those attending the match. We’ve seen an introduction recently where the referee will have their microphone turned on to explain to the crowd but that doesn’t take away the confusion it can cause.
We’ve seen from the controversies above that there can be mistakes. Some would argue that the system itself is not the issue but rather the people that are sat using it. There is a person sat somewhere using VAR and humans can make mistakes.
Arguably one of the biggest criticisms of VAR is the delay it can cause, thereby impacting the flow of the game. I was watching the Champions League game between Inter Milan and Liverpool and it took VAR at least 3-5 minutes to check whether a goal should stand or not. This brings in the question of whether officials are forgetting the ‘clear and obvious criteria.’ To me, it seems logical that if you’re checking whether a goal should stand or not for 3-5 minutes, it’s not clear and obvious that a mistake has been made.
These delays obviously add to the overall duration of a match. Not only is that not fair on players, it’s also not fair on match goers. I can think of this being unfair on matches where there is a late kick-off.
So VAR. Yay or nay? Honestly, I don’t know. I think if it was used to its full potential and correctly, it is something I would say yay to. However, the way it is used currently leans me to say nay.
Of course, let me know what you think! Thank you so much for taking the time out of your day to read this post and I will see you tomorrow for another one!
Beth
Beth Olivia 