Video assistant referee (VAR) was first developed in the Netherlands and tested in the Eredivisie during the 2012-13 Season. FIFA president Sepp Blatter was opposed to its introduction but his successor Gianni Infantino took a far more positive view.
On 7th April 2017 the Australian A-Legue was the first to use the VAR System when Melbourne City played Adelaide United. Major League Soccer (MLS) in North America were the next to adopt VAR for the 2017 Season while the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup was the first International Tournament to adopt the system in June. Shortly after, Portugal adopted VAR for Cup matches.
Adoption of VAR
The 2017-18 Season saw introductions in the German Bundesliga and the Italian Serie A and use at the October 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup. The first trial for an English game came in the FA Cup match between Brighton & Hove Albion and Crystal Palace. Premier League executive chairman Richard Scudamore stated that it was “inevitable” that VAR would be introduced to the Competition.
The 2018 FIFA World Cup Finals in Russia was the first to make full use of VAR with a reported 99.3% success rate for the 335 incidents it covered. A significant increase in the number of penalties awarded during Russia 2018 was down to catching fouls which would otherwise have gone unpunished.
VAR Criticism
VAR’s detractors have cited that it makes the game less enjoyable, has increased pauses during a game and decisions have often been inconsistent. The requirement not to immediately flag offside decisions but to wait for a natural break in play, has led to injuries sustained by defenders. Calls to abolish the technology were led by Wolverhampton Wanderers ahead of the 2024-25 Premier League Season.
The Elephant in the Room
Regardless of your position on VAR, the one thing that no-one seems to have mentioned is the significant increase in the number of goals scored in the Premier League ever since the technology was introduced.
In fact, going into Sunday’s final Matchday of the 2023-24 Premier League season a total of 1,209 goals have been scored in the 370 matches played, giving an average of 3.27 goals scored per game.
This is an all-time competition record. Opinions vary as to how much this is down to VAR but one thing is obvious – players can no longer get away with breaking the rules of the game without being punished.
