Premier League fans deliver damning verdict on VAR. 75% of 7,946 fans polled by the Football Supporters’ Association “didn’t support the use of VAR”. Too long, too forensic, too much of a joy killer, fans say. Findings shared with Premier League and PGMO.
92% of fans surveyed “agreed” that “VAR has removed the spontaneous joy of goal celebrations” (82% of them “strongly agreed”).
85% of match-going fans “strongly disagreed” with the notion that “VAR makes watching football more enjoyable”. And 83% of those watching on TV.
85% of match-going fans “strongly disagreed” that “VAR decisions are generally resolved in a reasonable amount of time”. Echoed by 83% of those watching on TV.
Only 18% agreed that “VAR has improved the overall accuracy of refereeing decisions”.
72% are “concerned about the expansion of VAR beyond its current remit”.
79% “strongly disagreed” with the suggestion “that the match-going experience is better with VAR”.
67% “strongly agreed” that they preferred “watching games that are played without VAR to games with VAR”.
84% “strongly support” goal-line technology.
34% “strongly opposed” to the idea of a challenge system (two per game per team).
“These findings back up the FSA's previous survey in 2021, where fans expressed misgivings about the introduction of VAR,” says Thomas Concannon, @WeAreTheFSAPremier League network manager.
“The vast majority are reporting the same concerns five years on - the loss of spontaneity when celebrating goals, and an overall worsening of the match-going experience. We have shared the survey results with the Premier League and PGMO, and look forward to discussing its findings with them.” Fans surveyed of all PL clubs and all ages (Under-18 to 65+).
Why are politicians allowed to lie like this again and again? It's getting genuinely alarming how much misinformation this man spews. By massively increasing subsidies, he has proved the doubters right.
Raiding salary sacrifice schemes is taxing people who want to work hard and are happy to put their earnings into UK government bonds for 30 years. It is surgically focused to punish people who want to help you by maximising their output and minimising their consumption.
These Wales performances have been coming for a while. When was the last time they really played well? Against a naive Turkey at Euro 2020?
Shame it finally caught up with them at their first World Cup for 64 years but Page looked out of his depth and some players looked gone.
"People often say that if exercise was a pill it would be the greatest drug ever invented. For the past 17 years parkrun has acted as a free dispensary." My column on the potential farce of parkrun not coming back this summer - and its myriad benefits https://t.co/k9ibAqhL63