VAR: Has it improved football or has made it worse ?*

[Oluwa-btc]

The history of VAR

Football’s first real brush with technology began at the 2014 World Cup, when goalline-technology was implemented into some of Europe’s biggest leagues. It came four years after the controversy over Frank Lampard's strike for England against Germany being missed by the officials: the goal was not given despite it clearly crossing the line.

Frank Lampard's disallowed World Cup goal was a pivotal moment in the future of technology in footballGero Breloer/AP2010
VAR was used in a major tournament for the first time in 2017 at the FIFA Confederations Cup. In the same year, the Bundesliga and Serie A became the first of the world's major leagues to take the plunge with La Liga and Ligue 1 following suit a year later. The Premier League bowed down to the inevitable and implemented VAR in 2019.

FOOTBALL NOW is a new show that brings to light some of the global game's biggest issues, challenges, and debates.

VAR. Like it or loathe it, it appears to be here to stay. But has it actually made football better or has it added another unnecessary layer of complication to the beautiful game?

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[Rruchi man]

But has it actually made football better or has it added another unnecessary layer of complication to the beautiful game?

The game was becoming more complicated, VAR's introduction was much needed to assist in making and clarifying difficult important and controversial decisions in the sport. Football is still a beautiful game and we need to accept that as technology creeps in into other aspects of our lives, and other sports, the game we all love (football) will & cannot be left out. The technology will get better than it is currently and people who do not accept it now will grow into accepting it.

[Lordhermes]

I cannot say Var has improved the game or not,but I know Var is a body that has been kept to check whether a goal is a goal,or not,and I like the fact that all football players respect the decision of Var when they take a decision. So I can actually say Var has  improved the game in a kind of way.
But in some few cases,there are some possible penalties that are supposed to be awarded which are always denied,while some balls that are not penalties being awarded as penalties.They work together with the Ref,therefore it makes the work a little bit easier.

[Slow death]

the entry of VAR was the best thing that happened to football (too bad that in my country they still don't use this technology), in the past the referees were corrupted and manipulated the games very easily, they could ignore obvious fouls, to favor a certain team because it paid them, the referees did not score obvious goals and obvious penalties to favor a certain team because they received money from that team. currently with VAR the result of the games is fairer and more transparent

[bittraffic]

Just so anyone reading without idea what VAR is, it stands for Video Assistant Referee (VAR). Been watching for a  long time I have no idea as well.
There had always been a camera for every game so I'm not sure how different is the VAR from what we see on NBA or boxing where we see every action being replayed whenever a violation is called.

[Yogee]

The only real argument I've read against VAR is that it affects the flow of the game since they had to stop and double check. There are some people that say it ruins the experience of the fans who are watching but even that is a weak reasoning not to implement VAR. There are far more important benefits it brought to the game. You now see less matches decided by an officiating error.

[ralle14]

VAR. Like it or loathe it, it appears to be here to stay. But has it actually made football better or has it added another unnecessary layer of complication to the beautiful game?

It improved football for sure, as a bettor it sometimes sucks to see the refs remove a goal or card that's in the favor of the team you bet on but having the technology to quickly replay a crucial scenario frame by frame is a big help for the refs since it'll help confirm their decisions based on the provided replay. I just think it offers more upside to football in general since one bad decision can sometimes have a big impact on the game and having the chance to overturn those due to VAR means it's effective.

[Wexnident]

I'm not gonna say anything about if it's improved the process of checking or not, but it's definitely the right step towards improving the accuracy of the results of the games that football has. I think better would still remain to be seen, especially if its use has been limited to only the big tournaments so far (afaik anw). I wouldn't really mind the delay, especially if it was a point that could change the match decision. I don't think mistakes would be impossible to avoid, but it's definitely going to be an improvement compared to solely relying on the referee's on-field judgment.

[Harkorede]

It depends on the context, I believe VAR is still pretty far from what it's supposed to be, the initial idea behind it neither can we call it a finished product as such, but there have been progress, it has helped surely certain calls get made correctly and some reversal too be it cards or goals that would have looked legitimate at first glances and vice versal, however, it has taken a bit away from the fun too when there have to be checks for almost every goals and all card-worthy offenses, it takes the flow and tempo pf the game away and that could be a huge advantage for team under immense pressure they get breathing space and try to get them self together. I like the fact plays are always allowed to continue until the ball is out of play before there is a review, but there are still a lot of things to be corrected or improved on in order to make it worthy of the goal it was set out to achieve.

There had always been a camera for every game so I'm not sure how different is the VAR from what we see on NBA or boxing where we see every action being replayed whenever a violation is called.

VAR is completely different with NBA video review, even though they are set out to achieve the same purposes, NBA doesn't review every basket made or every potential goaltending and it's often gotten wrong in certain instances and review are usually made in only certain instances especially with hard (flagrant) and take fouls, and there after each team gets one decision challenging opportunity for the entire game, and after that's gone every refereeing decision are as though there isn't a VAR, you can't any call overturned for or against you if it wasn't called in the first place.

So, my opinion having said all that would be that VAR has been an improvement to football, because it's has always been an eyesore when blatant infringement go the wrong way, because they couldn't have been notice without further review.

[Zlantann]

Although VAR has to some extent reduced some human errors but I am not comfortable with it. The anxiety and fear of waiting for the outcome of VAR result can cause health issues. One have to wait with a fast beating heart for the result of the checks. Those wonderful celebrations we use to see once the center referee confirm it is a goal are usually cut short be he VAR observation. Another challenge of using VAR is the cost of running it. Most countries might not have the financial strength to use VAR in their leagues. But generally it has done more good than harm to soccer.    

[ChiBitCTy]

I’m not personally a big fan of what we call soccer here in America (though I do enjoy champions league and the Real Madrid Barcelona Classico) but I do watch a whole lot of other sports and am all for using technology to enhance the game(s) to make them more fair. It’s not going to come without it’s on complications, but if we have the tech in my opinion we should always be using it to the best of our ability.

[vennali]

Var started off on the wrong foot with a lot of ambiguous calls, especially offsides and handballs but with some improvement as we go by. VAR is now an integral part of football. Just like challenges on line call in tennis, where a player has the right to review a shot if it landed in or out(3 times per set). They could add something similar to that in football as well. Where a manager can review a certain play which might have been missed by the refs. A similar system has been placed in the NBA as well. I think people overblow into the fact that the play has to be stopped for a few mins to get the decision right. The fact that we can overturn wrong decisions or lack there of is worth the time wasted in waiting. In my opinion.

[Silberman]

But has it actually made football better or has it added another unnecessary layer of complication to the beautiful game?

The game was becoming more complicated, VAR's introduction was much needed to assist in making and clarifying difficult important and controversial decisions in the sport. Football is still a beautiful game and we need to accept that as technology creeps in into other aspects of our lives, and other sports, the game we all love (football) will & cannot be left out. The technology will get better than it is currently and people who do not accept it now will grow into accepting it.

I agree, I understand the purists that did not wanted soccer to go this route, however if that is the case then we may as well forbid the advancements on the construction of the ball used to play, the uniforms, shoes and the different ways in which the matches are transmitted around the world, so this was something bound to happen and I think it is a step on the right direction, could things be improved? Of course, but I think it was a step that must have been taken a long time ago.

[Strongkored]

The history of VAR

Football’s first real brush with technology began at the 2014 World Cup, when goalline-technology was implemented into some of Europe’s biggest leagues. It came four years after the controversy over Frank Lampard's strike for England against Germany being missed by the officials: the goal was not given despite it clearly crossing the line.

Well, I still remember this game very well, watched it on television and indeed the goal was over the line, you want to know how I felt when the goal was not awarded? I'm happy because I favor Germany  .

VAR. Like it or loathe it, it appears to be here to stay. But has it actually made football better or has it added another unnecessary layer of complication to the beautiful game?

COMPLETE Source HERE

No technology will work perfectly, because everything is run by humans who have different views and every decision that results from VAR will have a very different response, fans of the team that benefits will be happy and vice versa, so what is expected just enjoy every match even though they are upset with VAR results.
I don't know if football is getting better because of VAR I know sometimes it's profitable but it can also hurt the team, but when reading this article at least many football fans believe that VAR can have a positive impact on football https://www.compare.bet/betting/var-survey-premier-league-fans

[GiftedMAN]

But in some few cases,there are some possible penalties that are supposed to be awarded which are always denied,while some balls that are not penalties being awarded as penalties.They work together with the Ref,therefore it makes the work a little bit easier.

You are right about this, when you see a case where what you think should be a penalty in a football match is denied, most time it is either the offense that was considered as a possible penalty to us that is watching the game was not a serious offense or the player who was fouled in the game dived to fall on the 18yard box so that a penalty can be awarded to his team. Most times the Centre referee is signaled by the VAR to check if a penalty should be awarded in such cases or not but at the end of the check, the penalty may not be awarded. In some games where penalties are awarded that should not be awarded to a team could be as a mistake by the VAR or the offense that was committed by a particular player was against the FIFA rules. The VAR work with the Ref but they have more power to award a penalty even when the Ref tries to overlook it.

[Don Pedro Dinero]

Var started off on the wrong foot with a lot of ambiguous calls, especially offsides and handballs but with some improvement as we go by. VAR is now an integral part of football.

As another comment says:

No technology will work perfectly <...>

What it has done, despite its beginnings, is to minimise mistakes. So in answer to the OP's question, I think it has improved football by taking pressure off the referee on the pitch, who when there was no VAR was the focus of all the anger in the stands. There is still anger, but it has been diluted a bit by the VAR.

[hashrateproducts]

I cannot say Var has improved the game or not,but I know Var is a body that has been kept to check whether a goal is a goal,or not,and I like the fact that all football players respect the decision of Var when they take a decision. So I can actually say Var has  improved the game in a kind of way.
But in some few cases,there are some possible penalties that are supposed to be awarded which are always denied,while some balls that are not penalties being awarded as penalties.They work together with the Ref,therefore it makes the work a little bit easier.

VAR made football easier for the referee, that's true but makes it difficult for players on the pitch, checking possible offfside and penalties. Players sometimes complain about the situation of penalties but the opportunity side looks happy about the penalty awarded. VAR would be use in the Qater World cup and it will be fully active in games. As time goes on, football also improved in their technologies and VAR have the final say. But some believe is one kind of cheat in games but I see it as a new way to detects penalty, offside, fouls. All these are highly noticed when VAR is present in games.

[traderethereum]

Why do I smell a fixed match when I see a control room operated by their referees and judge whether the goal is clear or it is not clear and I think it gives a big chance for the referees to say it is a goal and it is not a goal.
The referees who are in the control room are not watching live the match but I do not know if their technology is very good enough to get every view on every corner side of the field.
If that so, I think they can see what is going on in the match and can give their opinion related to the goal.
But hopefully, the referees are clean from other things that can make the match looks controlled by them.

[rahmad2nd]

Controversy in the world of football will always adorn the drama of every football match, like it or not.
related to today's cutting-edge technological innovations, widely used in the sports field.
VAR, is a set of technologies that can help referees in scoring more highly objective, that's how we read it from various news media sources. 

in the records related to the VAR controversy of various matches such as the one you mentioned, Frank lampard's goal, Hudson-odoi handball (chelsea vs manchester united) patrick bamford's goal disallowed (leeds united vs crytal palace) alexandre lacazette's goal disallowed (arsenal vs leicer city ) and many more.

I think this is only a small part of the controversy drama that exists and does not affect every game involving VAR. there are those who benefit and there are those who are harmed from the controversy, I think overall it will not change the rhythm of the game let alone reduce the beautiful game in football.

[fiulpro]

The fact is : " It can work both ways "
 Certain referees can actually be -controlled- or -biased- which means that before VAR the decision that they made was considered Final. There are certain historical matches where we have seen things like that happening as well. At the end of the day what we have to do is to understand that if the VAR is used correctly it provides a safeguarding system against fixed matches as well, but if it's not used in a proper way then it does not only increases the probability of someone buying those VAR's out but it also makes it completely irrelevant and time consuming.

[Mauser]

VAR. Like it or loathe it, it appears to be here to stay. But has it actually made football better or has it added another unnecessary layer of complication to the beautiful game?

We are having so many different cameras in the stadiums, showing us football from all possible angles, it would be wrong to not use them. It's frustrating if you watch a game from home and have a more clear view of the fouls than the referee on the field. Especially in large tournaments like Champions League or the Worldcup the stakes are so high that we should use all the technology we have to make the most accurate calls. The controversy from a wrongful counted goal, or a valid goal that was discarded and might change the outcome of the tournament is shedding a bit light on the whole sport. Video Assistant Referee is a good thing in my opinion and should be used more often. What I don't like is the long break it takes for the referee to pause the game, run to a TV and watch the whole thing on rewind. Why not have an additional referee watching the whole match on TV with more power? In football we have usually the head referee on the field, plus two assistant referees on the side lines and now the video assistant referee who should give all the necessary information directly to the head referee via radio. With the VAR help the number of wrong decisions by referee should be reduced a lot now.

[Pierre 2]

When I first heard VAR system I was totally against it. I was used to tempo of football. I felt like it is impossible to have that kind of system in nature of football. Although in my opinion its good at making football more "just" place. Especially considering the fact that gamblers can benefit from it. I don't want my or other teams to win matches without deserving it. VAR works in very ethical way and I liked it.

[Zilon]

Despite the delays and stoppages this VAR stirs up during matches it has improved the accuracy of referee decisions. Prior before this technology referees had a final decision and can be biased which made fix matches more rampant during those eras. Goal line technology and VAR has greatly improve our soccer experience and improved a high level of transparency during matches

[Boristhecat]

-skip-
VAR. Like it or loathe it, it appears to be here to stay. But has it actually made football better or has it added another unnecessary layer of complication to the beautiful game?

COMPLETE Source HERE

Firstly, I think that VAR made the game better because football is a game of skill and not luck, and such a factor as "the referee made a mistake" which can be considered random here is superfluous. In addition, the fewer mistakes the referee makes, the less talk about the unfairness of the result and the fact that the game is “bought”.
Secondly, I will say that VAR is now absolutely inevitable even if it were harmful or useless. It’s just that due to progress now, viewers of broadcasts using replays understand the situation in 5 seconds, and if the obvious facts (what they see) constantly diverge from what decisions the referee makes (referee cannot physically see everything - there have been studies on this topic) then they simply will not watch this nonsense.

[iv4n]

Despite the delays and stoppages this VAR stirs up during matches it has improved the accuracy of referee decisions. Prior before this technology referees had a final decision and can be biased which made fix matches more rampant during those eras. Goal line technology and VAR has greatly improve our soccer experience and improved a high level of transparency during matches

As you say, despite the delays with VAR technology, referee decisions should be more accurate and fair... I think that VAR is needed, referees can't follow everything that happens on the field, while VAR enables an overview of the situation from multiple angles! I personally like it and it was about time we saw it in football! Also, we all know there's a lot of "faking" in football, some players like to "just fall"... so with VAR I think this will be reduced!

[mia_houston]

The history of VAR

Football’s first real brush with technology began at the 2014 World Cup, when goalline-technology was implemented into some of Europe’s biggest leagues. It came four years after the controversy over Frank Lampard's strike for England against Germany being missed by the officials: the goal was not given despite it clearly crossing the line.

Frank Lampard's disallowed World Cup goal was a pivotal moment in the future of technology in footballGero Breloer/AP2010
VAR was used in a major tournament for the first time in 2017 at the FIFA Confederations Cup. In the same year, the Bundesliga and Serie A became the first of the world's major leagues to take the plunge with La Liga and Ligue 1 following suit a year later. The Premier League bowed down to the inevitable and implemented VAR in 2019.

FOOTBALL NOW is a new show that brings to light some of the global game's biggest issues, challenges, and debates.

VAR. Like it or loathe it, it appears to be here to stay. But has it actually made football better or has it added another unnecessary layer of complication to the beautiful game?

COMPLETE Source HERE

In this case, of course, technology has advantages and disadvantages including VAR technology which is currently applicable in football, as we know if VAR has been able to detect every time an offside occurs which the referee cannot see clearly and of course the use of VAR will at least minimize referee mistakes in making decisions, besides that with VAR, football becomes fairer and no club feels aggrieved by the referee decision, but still VAR also eliminates the excitement in football and often the referee stops the match when a team is on a counterattack only to check for possible violations so that the intensity of the game decreases.

[Cookdata]

If you pay close attention to some big games, like El Clasico in the Spanish League and Derby in the English Leagues, you'll notice that the referee rarely pays much attention to VAR since it kills the fun and freedom of football, unless it's clearly necessary. Look at the just concluded Champions League final match between Real Madrid and Liverpool. You'll see that the referee ignored several fouls that were too clear to warrant a stop and a decision, yet the game went on as if nothing had happened.

Personally, I like it because it makes it easier to make tough decisions without upsetting the crowd, but even then, tough final decisions are made anonymously by others, not by the referee, and also they allow them once in a while, if the referee cannot make the decision himself, then I don't know its primary purpose.

[Barcode_]

I think the implementation of VAR technology would surely help the referee to make better decision in game as they could watch what exactly happened in a game during certain moments. It would also minimize the chances of players diving in the penalty box in order to trick the referee to award a penalty to their team as the referee could always punish the players for diving after watching the VAR.

[Yogee]

Why do I smell a fixed match when I see a control room operated by their referees and judge whether the goal is clear or it is not clear and I think it gives a big chance for the referees to say it is a goal and it is not a goal.
The referees who are in the control room are not watching live the match but I do not know if their technology is very good enough to get every view on every corner side of the field.
If that so, I think they can see what is going on in the match and can give their opinion related to the goal.
But hopefully, the referees are clean from other things that can make the match looks controlled by them.

It's probably just the paranoid in you that thinks negatively of the improved VAR. There were wrong calls in the early implementations but I highly doubt it's match fixing. The review shows what happened from different angles and there are also coverage from media outlets with high tech equipments that we could use for comparison. There could still be controversial calls on tackles and fouls that could occur next season and beyond but less error on offsides and goal-line.

[Gozie51]

I would say to a large extent that VAR has helped the game to ensure that tricks by players on the game is curtailed, of course we have had goals scored with the support of the hand in the past and if it were to be this time around, those goals on contest would have been disallowed. For example the popularMaradona's "Hand of God" goal by Maradona is one and some other players have escaped this like Luis Suarez, Thierry Henry, Lionel Messi to mention few. But looking deeply too on the good that VAR has come to do to the game, I have also seen some decisions taken from VAR that looks biase in my eyes and it takes away the glamour of the fact that it is a game and a physical game for that matter. To say the least on this, I believe that the Nigerian female team was pushed out of the tournament through VAR during the game between Nigeria and Morocco. In that game, I don't expect the two red cards served to Nigerian team to be fair and just and that made the team to play behind two men down. At least the first red card was not deserving yet second card came, the ladies played it out very judiciously down to extra time after the full 90 minutes before they eventually lost by a goal at the penalty kicks. So In as much as the VAR was introduced to reduce tricks it also can be used to stop a team from winning.

[Jackl87]

Football’s first real brush with technology began at the 2014 World Cup, when goalline-technology was implemented into some of Europe’s biggest leagues. It came four years after the controversy over Frank Lampard's strike for England against Germany being missed by the officials: the goal was not given despite it clearly crossing the line

VAR. Like it or loathe it, it appears to be here to stay. But has it actually made football better or has it added another unnecessary layer of complication to the beautiful game?

I definitely think that it is a good decision that the goal-line-technology is now used in professional football matches because there you have clear goal or no-goal decisions and this device helps the referee to know for sure if the ball was in or not. If the ball was over the line the referee immediately gets an alarm on his smart watch or whatever he is wearing during a game and there are no delays. So i definitely think that the goal line technology was a great thing to introduce to football.

I have mixed feelings about the VAR though. Football is about emotions and nowadays it is pretty weird when every goal gets checked automatically if it counts or not, because you can not be sure if you should really already celebrate once the ball is in the net. That is pretty weird to me.

[ethereumhunter]

Maybe the presence of VAR can help the referee find out whether there is a violation from a player or not so that the match can run smoothly without any cheating from players. But this technology may still need to be developed and put in more cameras to monitor every corner of the field well and follow players running here and there. That way, during the match, the referee in the control room can give a code to the referee on the field if a violation occurs.

[bitzizzix]

In terms of accuracy, VAR is very helpful in football, it is also very helpful for referees to review incidents that occur during a match, before they make a final decision.
Referees are human and it is impossible for him to make mistakes when he himself has to observe 22 players simultaneously during a match, and VAR helps them to re-examine incidents they missed to see in the first place, or simply make sure that their decisions are correct. right before making the last call.
and indeed the occurrence of VAR will result in the postponement of the match as long as the VAR occurs which will annoy the spectators, and also the players don't like it because they can no longer get away with flashy play, it will throw him away, I suspect the management doesn't like it for the same reason. If you have nothing to lose as to what the problem is, it just means that the results will reflect what really happened.
And whatever the reason, I think VAR is good for football and considering every CCTV case is accurate evidence that cannot be manipulated.

[KTChampions]

I think the implementation of VAR technology would surely help the referee to make better decision in game as they could watch what exactly happened in a game during certain moments. It would also minimize the chances of players diving in the penalty box in order to trick the referee to award a penalty to their team as the referee could always punish the players for diving after watching the VAR.

By the way, at the moment VAR has not led to a decrease in the number of dives (at least it seems so to me). Maybe penalties are awarded less often in such cases, but players who dive are not punished severely enough. In my opinion, the punishment for trying to cheat should always be at least a yellow card.
The other day, Neymar dived even in a friendly game, what a guy!  

[Joca97]

Football needs to improve always and VAR is the right thing that happened to football. We see how much VAR has to react on matches and it is important that the mistake of refs is lowered to minimum. Plus with the new thing in the ball that means the var is improving

[inanilujimi]

I honestly agree with the existence of var, making the match fairer in every decision made by the referee, by utilizing var technology the referee's job is easier to make wise decisions even though it must take a long time.

[arimamib]

When I first heard VAR system I was totally against it. I was used to tempo of football. I felt like it is impossible to have that kind of system in nature of football. Although in my opinion its good at making football more "just" place. Especially considering the fact that gamblers can benefit from it. I don't want my or other teams to win matches without deserving it. VAR works in very ethical way and I liked it.

VAR has really changed the football system to be fairer, I mean VAR can reduce controversial decisions from referees and embarrassing diving by players.
During the presence of VAR in the world of football, the job of the referee is easier and players do not need to argue with the referee over events that are not seen by the referee, because all events on the field are included in the VAR recording.
I like it, because VAR prevents decisions from referees that can be detrimental to one side.

[Daltonik]

To minimize refereeing errors, the VAR system should really have a positive effect, because it is resorted to in four main cases and they are especially sensitive for teams in these situations :
- in order to make sure that the goal was scored according to the rules;
- in order to verify the correctness of the assignment / non—assignment of a penalty;
- in order to eliminate an error when removing a football player;
- in order to identify the player who violated the rules.

But on the other hand, all this introduces additional delays in the game and sometimes knocks down the pace of a football match, and sometimes simply cancels a team's victory if a goal scored is canceled, for example.

[bekti3]

Even though there are some controversies about Var which is still one of the problems due to the system that sometimes crashes, the fact is that VAR is still very helpful, especially for several matches that have occurred and become controversial, for example when England had to be willing to swallow bitterly at the 2010 World Cup in Africa. due to the goal that should have been the equalizer at that time, the referee failed, even though in the replay it was clear that it was a goal or when Barcelona vs Chelsea in UCL 2009 it was clear that Barcelona had violated several times in the penalty box and the referee just let it go.

[Davidvictorson]

VAR. Like it or loathe it, it appears to be here to stay. But has it actually made football better or has it added another unnecessary layer of complication to the beautiful game?

VAR, the goalline-technology I believe is still in its earliest stages and just like any other innovative technology, there's both both room for improvement. Football lovers just have to accept the reality of VAR whether they love or hate it. I'm all in for tech that makes live better however, I must confess that I am in a love-hate relationship with it. When I watch some football match, I question whether the VAR has been hacked to favour a particular side especially when it's not the team I support. Soon there will be robot referees and we would ask again, has it improved football or made it worse?

[Fortify]

The history of VAR

Football’s first real brush with technology began at the 2014 World Cup, when goalline-technology was implemented into some of Europe’s biggest leagues. It came four years after the controversy over Frank Lampard's strike for England against Germany being missed by the officials: the goal was not given despite it clearly crossing the line.

Frank Lampard's disallowed World Cup goal was a pivotal moment in the future of technology in footballGero Breloer/AP2010
VAR was used in a major tournament for the first time in 2017 at the FIFA Confederations Cup. In the same year, the Bundesliga and Serie A became the first of the world's major leagues to take the plunge with La Liga and Ligue 1 following suit a year later. The Premier League bowed down to the inevitable and implemented VAR in 2019.

FOOTBALL NOW is a new show that brings to light some of the global game's biggest issues, challenges, and debates.

VAR. Like it or loathe it, it appears to be here to stay. But has it actually made football better or has it added another unnecessary layer of complication to the beautiful game?

COMPLETE Source HERE

As someone who only casually watches football it's a tricky one, because like anything in life it hurts when the result goes against you but does instill a level of fairness (or at least fairly strict adherence to the rules) that could never be verified quickly before. However it doesn't solve every problem, as we can see situations where a player who is offside but not impeding the other team when a goal is scored still being up for debate. It does allow for and encourage better play, because players know that they will most likely be caught out in any malicious decision making. Is that worth breaking the flow of a game? I think it might be, but it should only really be implemented in the real top tier leagues.

[gabbie2010]

I honestly agree with the existence of var, making the match fairer in every decision made by the referee, by utilizing var technology the referee's job is easier to make wise decisions even though it must take a long time.

VAR had really been assisting referees to take decisions and so far it's been very helpful especially in it accuracy of picking offsides, hard tackles, penalty decisions, hand balls etc it has helped in making fair decisions, however delays and the longer time to consult VAR at times affect the players after the resumption of play, fluidity of the game might be reduced due to the delays, referees should hasten their decisions while contemplating whether to consult VAR or not and take the appropriate decision without wasting much time.

[ololajulo]

VAR has really helped to reduce error in football, especially those that are goal bound. The only discontent is the delay during the VAR, sometimes it waste time in high tempo game and causes distraction. I also think there should be improved rule in football with some awarded fowl. It is still in the early stage in football and I expect improvement in use of VAR.

[Wakate]

The introduction of the VAR system has made football matches more interesting and the rate of cheating had reduced immensely. This had made each team more serious in what they do and there is no room for cheating or bribery. It has made the football federation to be more of honesty and reduced cheating. I am looking to have this also in other sport where the red can easily give wrong judgement because of race or colour.

[traderethereum]

Why do I smell a fixed match when I see a control room operated by their referees and judge whether the goal is clear or it is not clear and I think it gives a big chance for the referees to say it is a goal and it is not a goal.
The referees who are in the control room are not watching live the match but I do not know if their technology is very good enough to get every view on every corner side of the field.
If that so, I think they can see what is going on in the match and can give their opinion related to the goal.
But hopefully, the referees are clean from other things that can make the match looks controlled by them.

It's probably just the paranoid in you that thinks negatively of the improved VAR. There were wrong calls in the early implementations but I highly doubt it's match fixing. The review shows what happened from different angles and there are also coverage from media outlets with high tech equipments that we could use for comparison. There could still be controversial calls on tackles and fouls that could occur next season and beyond but less error on offsides and goal-line.

Maybe it's just a negative thought that automatically comes to my mind because I saw a room where several referees were also watching the game to ensure there were no fouls.
Therefore, they may say there is a violation even though there is clearly no violation on the field.
But hopefully, what I have in mind doesn't happen and the referee in the room can be neutral in carrying out his duties as a referee.
If that could really happen, the match should have run more smoothly and hidden fouls could have been discovered by using cameras placed in many places on the field.

[nullama]

The history of VAR

Football’s first real brush with technology began at the 2014 World Cup, when goalline-technology was implemented into some of Europe’s biggest leagues. It came four years after the controversy over Frank Lampard's strike for England against Germany being missed by the officials: the goal was not given despite it clearly crossing the line.

Frank Lampard's disallowed World Cup goal was a pivotal moment in the future of technology in footballGero Breloer/AP2010
VAR was used in a major tournament for the first time in 2017 at the FIFA Confederations Cup. In the same year, the Bundesliga and Serie A became the first of the world's major leagues to take the plunge with La Liga and Ligue 1 following suit a year later. The Premier League bowed down to the inevitable and implemented VAR in 2019.

FOOTBALL NOW is a new show that brings to light some of the global game's biggest issues, challenges, and debates.

VAR. Like it or loathe it, it appears to be here to stay. But has it actually made football better or has it added another unnecessary layer of complication to the beautiful game?

COMPLETE Source HERE

In my opinion I think VAR has made football a bit worse.

Now it's being used multiple times per match, wasting precious time. And sometimes even after the review it's not really clear what the actual action was.

I much prefer football with human referees only, and whatever they were able to see. That's why there are assistant referees, to help the main one.

At the end of the day I prefer the judgement of the referee while the play was happening, not after reviewing a video of it.

It's slowly turning into RoboCup, which is not at all as fun as football.

[Xxmodded]

The introduction of the VAR system has made football matches more interesting and the rate of cheating had reduced immensely. This had made each team more serious in what they do and there is no room for cheating or bribery. It has made the football federation to be more of honesty and reduced cheating. I am looking to have this also in other sport where the red can easily give wrong judgement because of race or colour.

Slowly many people interested with adopt VAR (Video Assistant Referees) on football match although early adopt many people dislike with match delay and waste many time, beside with VAR make football atmosphere not really interested and not original attention again. After few years with VAR used in football match right now many fraud and mistake missing by referees have fix as soon possible and not any way for player in football made cheating because VAR catch all did by football player. Maybe most effective with VAR how faster take final decision and make match not delay more time and keep interested to watch.

[davis196]

This forum thread has nothing to do with sports betting and gambling in general. Maybe you should move into another forum.
VAR made football worse in my country for sure. At the end of the day, the final decisions in VAR are made by humans and humans can make lots of mistakes. The football referees in my country are simply awful. I don't know whether they are corrupt or totally incompetent.
Maybe it's both. VAR makes the situation even worse, when you have incompetent referees.
Anyway, VAR is the future of modern football and it won't be going away. I'm sure that the VAR system will be improved by removing the human factor and adding artificial intelligence.

[FatFork]

VAR remains almost exclusively used only in the world's biggest tournaments and leagues. Those competitions with more limited budgets do not have the resources or equipment to make it economically viable. This is a critical issue in many parts of the world, where the number of domestic cups in smaller countries, compared to elite leagues, do not have the financial wherewithal to make it work.

There's no doubt that the advanced use of VAR in the World Cup has transformed the game and that many games have been decided through its use. But the jury is still out on whether or not it has actually improved the flow of the game or helped reduce the number of mistakes and/or unfair decisions that were made before it came into use.

It has been said that VAR has made the game of football even slower and more complex than before, and this is certainly true. But there are cases of VAR being used at the right time to get the game back on track when a serious error has been made.

[Gozie51]

This forum thread has nothing to do with sports betting and gambling in general. Maybe you should move into another forum.
VAR made football worse in my country for sure. At the end of the day, the final decisions in VAR are made by humans and humans can make lots of mistakes. The football referees in my country are simply awful. I don't know whether they are corrupt or totally incompetent.
Maybe it's both. VAR makes the situation even worse, when you have incompetent referees.
Anyway, VAR is the future of modern football and it won't be going away. I'm sure that the VAR system will be improved by removing the human factor and adding artificial intelligence.

I'm of this opinion also that it has rather added more pain to the sorrow of tricks by players simply because of the same human factor that is part of it. The emotional factor found in referees in the field of play when VAR had not been introduced is there there, afterall those at the VAR room are humans, referees with same emotions and likely to be biased in their actions to favour one team from the other. The Nigerian Morocco female football match the I made as same reference if we go back to watch the match. The question then is how will the human factor be taken out of the game entirely? Perhaps the VAR should be made to spot out those fouls by itself and award the appropriate offence to it for the officials to carry out the order. Maybe by calling the attention of the referees by beeping of alarm or something else that can give notice.

[doomloop]

I’m not personally a big fan of what we call soccer here in America (though I do enjoy champions league and the Real Madrid Barcelona Classico) but I do watch a whole lot of other sports and am all for using technology to enhance the game(s) to make them more fair. It’s not going to come without it’s on complications, but if we have the tech in my opinion we should always be using it to the best of our ability.

Maybe on some countries, football is called like that. Soccer. I too prefer to termed this ball game like that and like you I am not a super fan of the game but when I was a kid I like to play a soccer video game on our family computer although I don't watch it much often in the t.v as I found it boring but on the other hand technologies are created because they supposed to improve the quality of one's life and not to bring more harm. Same with that VAR technology that is being used in football games as it can help aid the field referee to make sure that judgments are fair, not unless if they intentionally game the system or fixed the match going on.

[boltz]

Let me tell you that since VAR has been introduced in Romanian league this year , we have more football problems than before. Why ? Well it seems in Romania , the VAR works how it wants , for who it wants and there is always a penalty out of nowhere. So for a first try of VAR in Romania , things are worst than before but I'm sure it will be okay in time but this is not VAR is suppose to work... . For other leagues it seems to work just fine for 3 years now but there are still leagues that are having the Romanian experience where the VAR is working when he wants.

[FlamingFingers]

VAR has improved and also made football worse in my opinion, in the sense that sometimes VAR is been made to favour some set of club, its clearly obvious in the English Premier league, and in the other hand it has also done good to football there has been some vital goals that VAR had given if there was no VAR such goals would not have stand, one of the problems about VAR is the time consuming, it kills the morale of the players when VAR will be taking up to five to nine minutes for decisions to be taken place, there is no way that VAR will be 100% accurate, human being are behind controlling it, there is going to be flaws!

[needeero]

definitely better

[famososMuertos]

I improve it!

...although sometimes despite VAR in soccer...$$%$$"

In any case, if I think that it is something that took away that simplicity that it had at the level of amateur soccer, it is not something so simple to implement yet at a global level, then there is a gap that did not exist and it is somewhat strange.

Before, the rules of soccer were fulfilled worldwide in any game in any corner of the world, it is no longer like that.

Although it also happens in other sports that you don't have the technology, so those of us who play soccer discuss the plays in the "bar".

Literally for Latinos we like to play with the word game VAR for BAR.
Anyway...rare this topic here, the VAR can make you lose money, even cause a heart attack...

[RockBell]

But has it actually made football better or has it added another unnecessary layer of complication to the beautiful game?

The game was becoming more complicated, VAR's introduction was much needed to assist in making and clarifying difficult important and controversial decisions in the sport. Football is still a beautiful game and we need to accept that as technology creeps in into other aspects of our lives, and other sports, the game we all love (football) will & cannot be left out. The technology will get better than it is currently and people who do not accept it now will grow into accepting it.

VAR have its own advantage as said earlier it can not be left out because when it comes to making some decisions the ref have to go to VAR for confirmation and once’s is not on your favor they feel the technology is bad with time the technology will improve better.