The Ongoing Video Assistant Referee Debate: To Keep, To Remove, or To Reform?

Would soccer benefit without the Video Assistant Referee protocol?

Premier League supporters, coaches, and footballers received a glimpse of what the game was like devoid of VAR during the FA Cup fourth round – and it is fair to say this matchday was far from free of its controversies.

In the current campaign and the previous FA Cup campaign, VAR has remained absent until the fifth round, with a large section of the crowd anticipating a return to football without interruptions from video review.

After a season full of debate, delayed decisions, and uncertainty driven by VAR, its very existence has been scrutinized repeatedly, with numerous voices stating the sport would be more enjoyable if it were scrapped.

In fact, after a day full of long delays, mixed messages, and furious managers in the start of the month, a ex- Premier League midfielder commented: "For the good of the game, you'd have VAR gone."

"The issue is what it is doing to the games, to the spectacle, with the length of time it takes to get there."

"Is it preferable to have increased accuracy or do you want a more fluid football product that is genuine and spur of the moment?"

Following a couple of offside goals being permitted to stand, a blatant penalty being overlooked plus various other contentious calls, the weekend certainly brought the topic to the forefront of the spotlight.

'A Better Spectacle' or 'More Precise Decisions'?

Everyone is aware of the arguments against VAR.

Rulings taking too long, goal festivities being paused while reviews take place, confusion as goals are awarded – or disallowed – for extremely close reasons, denying referees the opportunity to use their own judgment.

But one club's debated win at Aston Villa on Saturday could scarcely have been more favorable for supporters of VAR – or worse for those who contend football is superior in its absence.

The first goal was clearly offside, a defender somehow avoided giving away a penalty for handling, and the same player could arguably should have been dismissed for a reckless challenge as well.

The winning coach commented: "I am conflicted because the game is better without VAR regarding spontaneity and the viewing experience for the supporters."

"But it does give accurate results. It does make the game more precise in terms of officiating. You have to respect those moments."

The defeated team's boss added, saying "VAR is necessary. It's necessary to help the referees".

Additionally, there was some dispute at another ground during a different fixture.

A young substitute had a goal wrongly ruled out for offside, while the opposition were furious a penalty was given against them.

Another top manager remarked: "In general, I enjoy watching football without VAR because if you then score you're like 'it's a goal'."

"I support VAR only for the definitive and unmistakable things... We should avoid using it for subjective calls and only go to offside decisions."

A further manager was uncertain whether football was better with VAR, despite witnessing a goal denied for a debatable offside in his side's win.

"On occasion before I thought it was preferable and sometimes I think VAR aids us to have a more fair game," he said. "To be honest I don't know."

Are Officials Too Reliant on VAR Now?

According to some pundits, it is straightforward – rather than VAR being a solution for wrong decisions, they would contend officials just need to get things right.

When asked whether the errors witnessed made him in support of VAR, a legendary forward responded: "No. I would like the officials to perform their duties correctly. It is not too much to ask, is it?"

"If you ever needed any evidence of the negative impact that VAR has done to referees, I think that match is a prime illustration of that."

"These guys look petrified to make a decision because they didn't have a comfort blanket."

A former goalkeeper added: "It shows you why we use VAR. A lot of decisions the officials got wrong... VAR is like a security blanket for referees."

"The decision is taken away from the officials. The linesman has been told all season not to put their flag up, so their brain has been trained."

When asked whether football had become too reliant on VAR, a manager had some agreement with the argument.

"One could argue to say yes," he said. "Because when VAR is there, there is a inclination to think 'oh well I won't give that because VAR is there to check it'."

"Then your ability to make a call isn't as decisive as it would normally have to be. Maybe there is a difference there."

But a former referee feels it is unfair to claim officials use as a crutch VAR.

"I genuinely disagree that's fair," he said. "Clearly I work with them closely and I know these guys and they're not like that."

"I spent a portion of my career with VAR and half without it... And your approach essentially stay the same."

"What has changed though is with VAR you don't have that moment in a game where you know you've made a really big error and you now have to recover and go again."

'Much Better Without' or 'A Shambles' – Fan Views

Opposed to VAR:

• James: Football without VAR is real football. As a long-term attendee, the last few years have been dreadful in comparison. I don't bother cheering goals any more as the officials are far more interested in finding ways of ruling goals out than the enjoyment of the supporter in the stadium.
• Frank: I backed the introduction of VAR, but it was great not having it. It wouldn't be so bad if there weren't so many VAR ridiculous errors.
• Alan: Much, much better [without]. VAR has damaged the game, thankfully I now support grassroots football where there are humans, making human mistakes.
• Stephen: Much better without VAR. No waiting for obvious incidents that everyone can see immediately but takes VAR forever to decide. Time for return of refs and linesman to start refereeing the game again.
• Mike: Better, even though a goal was probably wrongly disallowed. Right or wrong, its so much better to just know straight away if its a goal or not. VAR is a moment-killer.
• Les: The game is so much better without VAR. It moves without problem like it used to do. The officials are there to make decisions rightly or wrongly. VAR are always making wrong calls so I can't see the point of it.

In Support of VAR:

• Bonnie: As a fan of both, that is exactly the decision that VAR doesn't get credit for. VAR gets it right every time.
• Roger: That was so obviously offside, have linesman lost their natural ability to spot stuff like this since the introduction of VAR? Bad call.
• Peter: There's an easy fix for VAR offsides. If you can watch one TV replay and see the on-field decision is clearly wrong, you intervene.
• Stephen: That's what you all wanted isn't it? More goals irrespective of whether they're actually legitimate or not?
• Liga: It's these types of situations and these types of situation only where VAR should and needs to be used for offsides. Not those hairline millimetre pointless situations.
• Callum: This season is proving 2 things. 1) VAR is a necessity. 2) Attacking football is under threat.
• Ben: What are linesman for exactly? Having no VAR is another shambles, who makes these decisions?