VAR
I enthusiastically welcomed it. Was sold on the higher percentage of right decisions so we could all go home knowing football justice had been done and we could concentrate on which player was crap instead.
But I was wrong. Woefully and completely wrong.
Waiting 5 minutes for a decision to be made alone means the system isn't fit for purpose. Why? Because I sat with TV producers who said everything would be wrapped up in 10-30 seconds. It has literally taken the spontaneous joy from the most important part of the game. A goal.
Then, one thing completely blindsided me and many others.
Subjectivity.
I thought there would be science and a nailed on guarantee of a successfully and universally accepted decision. How wrong we were. Instead, arbitrary lines are drawn that simply can't with any certainty say whether a player is offside or not. So a human in a portacabin, 200 miles away only does what the referee can do, make a best guess.
Likewise handballs, dives, any penalty decision to be honest. A subjective decision decided out of stadium allowing an increasingly small and poor refereeing pool a get out of jail free card. Instead of them making a shit decision and owning it, they just pass it on 200 miles away so 3 men in a portacabin can make a shit decision instead. Lunacy.
For the love of the game, let's go back to investing in getting more referees, respecting them so that they join the trade and don't feel constantly abused. In short, treat them like rugby referees. Ultimate respect.
Then, fuck VAR off, it's ruined the game, made it petty and chaotic, and taken that one ingredient that you simply can't replace, instantaneous joy.
As a player and fan I accepted a referee making a bad decision in a game in the same way I accepted fucking up a shot or pass. We're all human.
Let's get back to that, humans doing their best, everyone walks away from the ground accepting that and less unrealistic pressure put on officials to be perfect when perfection doesn't exist in any walk of life.
VAR stinks. A system designed to help is a massive hindrance and it's about time pundits, fans, players, referees, clubs put pressure on authorities to get rid of it. We only need goal line tech, the rest can and should be refer refereed by humans making their best judgement. A best judgement that was over 98% right( audited fact pre VAR).
Enough is enough, fuck it off.
@henrywinter Been following your commentary on football for years. But your support of VAR is where you lost me. VAR is antithetical to everything football is. It should be binned not improved.
This is why the Championship is unparalleled. Ayling doesn't play the ball. A blatant penalty, ref not interested.
No VAR. Just good, old fashioned, honest incompetence. As the game should be. Marvelous stuff.
@FansAgainstVAR_ I say this as an Arsenal Fan. The game is gone. VAR is a cancer to the beautiful game. To think that a game which has stayed the same for 100 years capturing the imagination of the entire world, Somehow needs “improvement” with this farce is an insult to football
This has been weighing heavily on me, and I can’t stay quiet about it any longer.
I am 71 years old. I’ve been fortunate enough to attend five World Cups, starting in 1986. Those tournaments weren’t just events to me, they were life chapters. They were about connection, about culture, about standing shoulder to shoulder with people from every corner of the world, united by the game we love.
But what I’m seeing now breaks my heart.
The current dynamic pricing strategy for the upcoming World Cup feels completely detached from the very soul of football. Yes, this tournament is being played mostly in the United States, and yes, it’s a premium market. But football was never meant to be a luxury product reserved for the highest bidder. It belongs to the people. Always has. I looked back fondly at USA 94 and everything we did then to fill stadiums and bring the game to life for Americans who were just dipping their toes into the water of the beautiful game.
Right now, it feels like the average, passionate supporter, the ones who save for years, who travel across continents, who bring the color, the noise, the spirit, are being pushed out. Replaced by a model that prioritizes revenue over reality.
That’s a dangerous road because once you lose the authentic fan, you lose the essence of what makes the World Cup special.
I say this not just as a fan, but as someone who has spent a lifetime in and around the game. During my time at EA SPORTS, we stood shoulder to shoulder with FIFA when they needed it most. Our game kept millions of fans connected to football and to the World Cup when trust in the organization was at its lowest. We helped carry the flame.
Which is why this moment feels even more disappointing.
This may well be one of the last World Cups I have the chance to attend and I find myself wondering if the game I’ve loved all my life is slowly drifting away from people like me, and far more importantly, from the next generation who deserve to feel what I felt in 1986.
The World Cup should unite the world. Not divide it by price.
Football deserves better. And so do the fans. Come on @FIFAcom , sort this out… It’s not too late.
The US thinks if they took football seriously they’d dominate the sport because of their athleticism.
Nonnas in the favelas are doing this in Brazil, do you know what you’re up against?
https://t.co/nyak4hJKTZ
I am fully convinced that 2019 was the last normal year we ever had. Ever since then, it feels like everything’s broken. Everyone is constantly anxious, time moves too fast, and nothing actually feels real anymore. The world as we knew it is just gone
VAR is suffocating the beautiful game to death. The hesitation and doubt after every goal kills the joy of it. The roar of the crowd now waits for a screen’s verdict. we have sacrificed the chaos, emotion, and soul that made the game sacred. Abolish VAR. Let football breathe