As VAR is being introduced to the Premier League this season I thought I’d take the time to address the pros and cons of this highly controversial piece of technology after week one of it’s shaky debut.

First of all, I’d like to stress that I’m a fan of the concept of VAR and, as a rule, it does make the game more fair and is pretty reliable (usually). Despite having VAR we all know there are still going to be incorrect decisions which people need to understand, because at the end of the day, humans are still deciding the outcome and there is room for basic human error.

But for the good of the game, football should abandon VAR for many reasons. Firstly, I’d like to point out that giving it the name VAR – making it seem like a physical being – was a poor decision as it gives fans of football the sense of it being an actual “thing” to complain about. Fans are blaming ‘VAR’, but it’s still the referee and the officials in the ‘VAR room’ that are deciding the incident, not the technology itself.

Secondly, it diminishes a huge amount of trust in the referees out on the pitch as they can always just check VAR at any key moment as it’s supposedly more reliable. I’ve seen scenarios when there are decisions being made that do not require VAR, and the players and fans do not trust the referee as much to get the correct decision as its assistant-turned-competitor in VAR is more reliable. We need to remember, the referees are working alongside VAR, not against it. This is something a lot of fans have misunderstood.

Image result for players appealing VAR
Image courtesy of The Independent

Finally, and in my opinion most importantly, VAR has a significant affect on the emotions of football fans watching the game and the players themselves. With the inclusion of VAR in a decision, if a team scores, the players aren’t even sure if it’ll count as they can’t celebrate the goal fully and enjoy the thrill of scoring a goal and wheeling off in celebration.

This is the reason we love football as fans; for the immense ups and downs experienced during one single game. However with the inclusion of VAR, this emotional roller-coaster is negatively impacted by long pauses and painful waiting, with little information on the decision making process being carried out. Fans can’t just press a pause button on the emotions of their team scoring a goal for countless minutes whilst a group of officials in a room in Stockley Park (West London, for those of you as geographically unaware as myself) look at close up slow motion replays of something that happened in the build up twenty seconds before the ball hit the back of the net.

If VAR can be improved (and renamed ideally) I think it can be a positive in football, but only if drastic changes are made. Frankly, I don’t know how they would improve it to factor in these points – it becomes too complex for a piece of technology that’s supposed to make things simpler. If they somehow could, then it would have a hugely positive impact on fairness in the game of football, but in its current state, it’s more detrimental to the game.

Featured image courtesy of Sports Rapida