Is Video Assistant Referee (V.A.R) to Blame In The Game Of Football
According to the oxford dictionary, the word blame means the responsibility for doing something badly or even wrongly. The question that comes from this is should we blame video assistant referee for ruining the game of football. We are all aware of the fact that football has always been a game where the referees calls have been final. However, the introduction of video assistant referee (VAR) has influenced this and has been seen by some as trying to ruin the already perfect game of football.
In as much as people might say VAR has had a negative influence on the game of football, it has really saved different teams from receiving bad calls due to the referees view being obstructed or them just being too far to make an informed call. For example, on the 27th of February in the 2021/22 season Liverpool 11 Chelsea 10, the Chelsea’s sides goal was disallowed due to a slight offside from Romelu Lukaku allowing Liverpool to win the game in penalties and we can safely say VAR saved Liverpool after the referee had made a bad call.
In a recent report by sky sports, FIFA claimed that they where really satisfied with the way VAR is being used across the world and this shows that it is in fact that VAR has ultimately led to a significant increase in correct decisions and this is something FIFA is both proud and pleased with.
At first glance, it might seem as if all fans hate VAR, but like all things, it has its few supporters. For example, in a survey conducted by BBC sport , 30% of the people thought VAR had improved the game and the remaining 70% thought that it had completely ruined the game of football. I however think that the provision of VAR is a step in the right direction as it shows that FIFA cares a lot about the sport to the extent of wanting calls to be accurate to the millimeter
As football fans we are quick to complain about VAR but we tend to forget that we are the ones that where crying for more precise calls, blaming referees left, right and center and even calling them incompetent at their jobs. Not just us, but our beloved football stars as well. for example, in a world cup qualifier match where Serbia drew to Portugal 2 all Christiano Ronaldo was robbed of late match deciding goal and the Portuguese star was left distraught after feeling let down by the absence of VAR and this shows that football stars actually appreciate the provision of VAR..
After a careful examination of the question, I have realized that it is all about opinion and some people prefer the new perfectionist style of football, while others would rather stick to their old historical way of playing the sport. like all other things operated by humans, VAR is prone to human error and mistakes can be made so it would be unfair for us to completely blame the decline of football on a number of individuals.
