A Target Too VAR?

Is there something wrong with VAR? I don’t mean a quibble or two about the way it operates. I mean the whole idea of this elaborate set-up of additional referees and a bank of monitors that spew out replays at all speeds from all angles.

- Paul Gardner

The target is clear enough: to make sure the referee gets the calls right. Which means we’re seeking perfection.

I’ve never doubted that is a worthy aim and I think that would be true of most football devotees who have seen too many games where a wrong call, thanks to imaging technology, is known to be wrong by all except the ref.

It is an absurdity that had to be corrected. But I am having some second thoughts about this – all centered around the perfection angle.

There is a mass of research that tells us that perfection is not such a good idea. That it is an illusion, a myth. That there is something distinctly sterile about it.

We don’t deal with perfection in everyday life, we deal with numberless imperfections. And they are rarely boring, they add vitality and drama and humor to life.

On the pitch, there were a dramatic few minutes played out in the recent USA Vs Nigeria game at the Under-20 World Cup.