The implementation of VAR has changed the way football is dictated and in-game evaluations, stoppages and checks are becoming all too common… so how does this affect our young lions?
VAR, or Virtual Assistant Referee, is a comprehensive review of decisions made by the head, or main, referee and after extensive testing, VAR was integrated into the game by the International Football Association Board (IFAB) in 2018. It is a useful tool and following many controversies in the past such as Lampard’s goal against Germany in the World Cup 2010 Last Sixteen, Chelsea vs Barça in the 2009 Champions League Final and Marandona’s now infamous “hand of God” incident in 1986 to name a few. A massive factor in these games were the referees and their singularity; and at a point, the pressure put on referees was immense. So this assistant to help review and alleviate some of the pressure is ideal and useful, right?
Wrong. The mental pressure upon referees is decreased substantially – but there are also implications upon the fans, game, managers and players to consider for those wishing to integrate VAR into the game. It is also way easier said than done as this form of refereeing is in its early stages and looks like it’ll only ever be improved incrementally.
I spoke to England’s under 20s coach Keith Downing who said:
“I think it’s [VAR] in the first throws
“My personal view is it’s a great idea, my worry is that you don’t celebrate goals and you have to be looking at the screen to check if it is acceptable or not.”
Downing does have a valid point when talking about the concern for checking the screen after a goal is scored, VAR does take time to analyse in the game and fans, players and managers are left in edge for minutes to know whether or not a goal has been given. VAR has made a total of 800 check across 120 games this season. 6.7 checks per match in another perspective. Across all of the reviews, the original decision has been overturned just 3.6% of the time, which poses the question about whether or not it should be adopted until it can be more critical about the referees’ decisions or if an clear and obvious lapse of judgement is made by the main referee.
“it’s taking away the emotion of the game.”
Football has always been a game of emotion and competitions of massive proportions – viewing numbers are incredible for a lot of mainstream tournaments and it resonates with so many fans on an international scale, with over 1 billion views across the World Cup in 2018, for example.
Lastly, Downing spoke about the “Mental Issues” VAR are brings because:
“if you score a goal and it is disallowed it has an effect on you and similarly if you concede a goal and it is disallowed.”
The mental effect on players would be an issue they will have to “get over” said Downing and VAR, in its first throws is ideal for helping referees in “the big decisions" only.