It is an argument, which has been the talk of football fans
throughout the land – and, following the World Cup, the globe. Video Assistant
Referee – VAR. Has it benefitted our game? Or will it, without wishing to be
overly dramatic, be the death of it?
VAR has been used in English football for
some time now and the concerns raised there have now spread north of Hadrian’s
Wall since it was introduced into the Scottish Premiership in October. It was
hailed as a technique that would revolutionise football, ensuring controversial
decisions were kept to a minimum and that it would prove to be a boon for our
game. Fewer mistakes. More correct decisions. Fewer unjustified
defeats. Simple. Except this hasn’t quite worked out the way the football
authorities had hoped. Sadly, thus far, it has proved to be the
opposite.
Technology seems to have taken over our lives. The seemingly
endless yearn to replace humans with robots is a sad reflection on present day society.
Supermarkets are now festooned with self-service checkouts; damn it you can’t
even go for a pint of milk without some robotic voice telling you there’s an ‘unexpected
item in the baggage area.’ Some football clubs are even going down the machine
route with the humble turnstile operator now replaced by a machine looking for
a bar code on your match ticket/season ticket card. At least FC Edinburgh’s
esteemed programme editor can still be found collecting money at the gate from
fans, greeting them with a welcome and a cheery smile (are you talking about
me? Ed)
Now it seems the machines are taking over that most crucial
of match day functions. No, not the gate money. The role of the referee who,
despite what you may think, is only human.
And there’s the rub. Football is a game played by humans.
Humans, by their very nature, are prone to make mistakes. Everyone does, it’s
part of life. Even my wife has admitted to making mistakes, namely the day she
married me but that’s another story. Football referees are prone to making more
mistakes than anyone. Again, it’s in the very nature of their profession.
Football is a high-pace game and referees, and their assistants can’t see
everything that goes on over ninety minutes (or 100 minutes if you’re
officiating at the World Cup in Qatar…)
Making mistakes is part of football. Players are dropped for
making them. Managers are sacked for making too many of them. And poor referees
are subjected to vitriol most weeks by fans of all teams although this merely illustrates
they are doing something right. It’s what makes football the game it is. At
least that’s the way it used to be.
VAR was first used in 2017 with the intention of taking some
of the pressure off the poor harangued referees and making life better for
everyone. The vast sums of money in the game these days mean an erroneous
offside decision, blatant penalty denied or incorrect sending off can affect
results and possibly mean the difference between winning a trophy or, worse,
relegation potentially costing a club millions of pounds. And, subsequently, the
wealth of a club owner or shareholders, or venture capitalists on the other
side of the world. At our level, a referee’s mistake may cost FC Edinburgh
three points and ruin the weekend for hundreds of Citizens. But at the highest
level of the game a referee’s error could potentially affect a considerable
financial investment.
However, the underlying factor with VAR is that the
decisions are still overseen by human beings meaning mistakes are still
prevalent. The expectation among fans is that VAR should be eliminating mistakes,
but human beings still set the guidelines. Therefore, we have a ridiculous
scenario of mistakes remaining in games even after someone in a television
studio some distance away has studied the action after an excruciating amount
of time. Japan against Spain in the World Cup anyone?
And this is my main gripe about VAR. It is killing the art
of goal celebration. The robotic tendencies of VAR mean that decisions are
scrutinised to the nearest millimetre. Your team scores a vital goal near the
end of the game, your star striker wheels away to take the acclaim of
celebrating supporters and your joy is unconfined. Until a man in a box miles
away wags his finger and says to the referee through an earpiece ‘nah, the
striker’s fingernail strayed momentarily into an offside position. I don’t
think the goal should stand but go away and have a look yourself.’
VAR is paralysing the passion of football. We will very soon
be at the stage where when a goal is scored, we won’t be jumping on the fan
sitting next to us in delight. Instead, we’ll be looking to a giant screen
waiting for our joy to be banished.
What do you want from watching football? A game with
passion, excitement, tension and, yes, mistakes? Or a soulless, nervous, hesitant
passionless reaction which will rip the heart from the game?
I know which I would prefer…
Mike Smith
Twitter @Mike1874
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