VAR controversy is nothing new: debate over decisions has raged ever since its introduction to the Premier League in 2019, just as it did for the decades prior, when referees were making calls without assistance from Stockley Park.
This season, though, frustration has reached a new high, the perception that far from having ironed out its early wrinkles, VAR is getting worse, amid a spate of high-profile blunders.
VAR will never be perfect, since it ultimately relies on subjective interpretation of the game’s laws and is prone to human error. It is surely, though, here to stay, so here is our sixpoint plan to produce more consistent and reliable decisions, eradicate outright clangers, speed up the process and improve fans’ experience.
THE NO-BRAINER
Semi-automated offside technology is available, working well in other competitions, and would speed up the one (mostly) objective aspect of VAR’s remit, while avoiding some of its most embarrassing gaffes, most notably Luis Diaz’s disallowed goal for Liverpool at Tottenham.
The release of VAR audio in the Premier League’s Mic’d Up programme has also highlighted how much other decisions, like for penalties and red cards, could be sped up if officials did not also have to check manually for offsides elsewhere in the play.
CLEAR AND OBVIOUS WHAT?
Has a tin ever been less descriptive of its contents? Nothing has muddied the VAR picture quite so much as the question of how clear ‘clear’ must be, while one man’s ‘obvious’ has time and again proven to be another man’s absurd.
Denne historien er fra November 15, 2023-utgaven av Evening Standard.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent ? Logg på
Denne historien er fra November 15, 2023-utgaven av Evening Standard.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
Only £65k a month to live like Boy George
The Karma Chameleon singer listed his house for £17m in 2022, turning down offers. Now, he's looking for a tenant
Welcome to London, unicorn capital of Europe
We're flying far ahead of anywhere outside US for tech investment
Arteta's Arsenal evolution The next phase
Malik Ouzia and Simon Collings assess how the Spaniard will try to bring down Man City after he signs up for another three years with the title in his sights
Title fight catches fire after Gunners embrace dark side
Arsenal-City clashes take on a welcome edge of animosity
Whack the hippy gong-boho's back
It happened in Paris one grey February day. Sienna Miller was in an oversized, black leather jacket, lace-trimmed silk slip and clumpy great wedges.
There's a Starlink waiting in the sky... 7,000 in fact.Can Elon Musk stop them crashing to Earth?
As he was preparing his fields for seeding this year, Barry Sawchuk came across a giant slab of space debris. It had come from a spacecraft belonging to Elon Musk’s company, SpaceX.
'Politicians are only into power-mongering, corruption and cronyism'
We speak to alt revolutionary DEEPAK CHOPRA about biomarkers, his digital twin and his work to save humanity from disease
I've been waiting for a production of Godotthis brilliant all my life
Ben Whishaw and Lucian Msamati bring a potent, tragicomic chemistry to James Macdonald’s rich revival of Samuel Beckett’s challenging play.
Trust me, the Ritz is London's bestrestaurant
To whom we turn in moments of gloom and glory can be instructive, a filter of our truest friends. I've fallen out with the Ritz a couple of times, including once after a visit to the bar which didn’t warrant a review (“But you said it was lovely!” they said.
'Healing is a dirty word'
After four traumatic years, FKA twigs is back with a new album -and a thrilling metamorphosis