I find it hard to be balanced on the topic of VAR as I’ve been against in pretty much since its inception but I’ll do my best to see both sides of the argument in this post.
I completely understand the theory regarding why such a tool is necessary in the modern game. The amount of money that is at stake on the prospect of being relegated to a lower division or not making into the Premier League’s Champions League places is eye watering, so to fall short due to a refereeing decision is bad for everyone.
It’s heart-breaking for fans, costly for owners or investors and it devalues the appearance of the Premier League as a competition and as a product. It’s a cold way of looking at our beautiful game but the last point is the reality of the situation – the Premier League is a product that is sold all around the world. If it’s seen to be unfair or potentially even biased, it loses value and for the big men at the top – that CANNOT happen.
It’s therefore easy to see how the idea of VAR can find it’s way into boardrooms and high level meetings – as if it is sold in the right way, it seems to be the only way to have a game of football without controversy.
What I struggle to grasp is how we – as in, the football world as a whole – went from this being a hypothetical solution to a refereeing problem, to being the actual resolution.
It just seems like the sort of thing that gets discussed but is quickly rejected to due to the effect it would have on the game as a whole. I understand that money talks and the people who manage the game of football at the top will understand little of what it’s like to be in the stands or watching at home on the edge of your sofa. However, I can’t comprehend how no one spoke up and floated the idea that the introduction of VAR might erode the very thing that makes football what it is – the passion. The unbridled joy of seeing the ball hit the back of the net and hugging complete strangers while jumping up and down for reasons that I don’t really understand, but who cares we’ve just f***ing scored!!!
Fast forward a few years and VAR is really starting to have an effect on the enjoyment of the game by the fans, players and managers, with joyous scenes of ecstasy being called back and scrubbed from the record due to marginal offside calls or dubious fouls. I read one Premier League Manager at the weekend claim that the game is becoming ‘sterile’ and we’re not far away from goals not even being cheered by fans for fear of being disallowed. I find this point really hard to look past and I think everyone can see some truth in it.
When the subject of VAR rears it’s head in the news – which let’s face it, is every week! – I always find myself thinking back to the great man, Arsene Wenger, and his advocacy of VAR in the modern game. Here is a man who has done wonders for English football and has a special place in the heart of every Gooner for everything he gave us, despite how it all came to an end.
It’s therefore difficult to dismiss the opinion of someone who I regard so highly as he argues that VAR is a must in the modern game, citing that his beloved Arsenal we would have won the Champions League Final in 2006 if it had been in place and this injustice should not be repeated.
It’s a strong argument and one that’s difficult to swallow for us Arsenal fans, who are yet to taste sweet victory in a Champions League final, but I always come back to the same point.
When I go to football matches with my nine year old (at time of writing) son, when Arsenal score a goal he looks at me and says ‘Can we cheer? Is it really a goal?’. Even as I type these words I can still feel the pit in my stomach of the way my son experiences football and I wish I could reply to the Arsenal legend and Godfather of moden football and say, ‘No thank you, Arsene. I’d rather lose ten Champions League finals and get to cheer a goal with my son than have VAR anywhere near my game’.