There have been many of those moments in the history of Football when the fans felt desperate and betrayed by the referees. When the referees decision went against our team, we felt that things are just not right in football. Are they now better with the Video Assistant Referees (VAR)s?

A goal, a celebration, a lot of emotions. Chilean players simulating a Playstation game… well wait… the goal is canceled, as the referee saw an offside thanks to the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology. Then another goal, another celebration, but somehow conscious because the referee’s gesture says that there will be a replay on the VAR technology. Everything is fine, the goal is legitimate. Now some can finally celebrate it.

After the game the Chilean coach Juan Antonio Pizzi “It is a little difficult for the players. Even if it is the right decision, this has an impact on players’ emotions and feelings”. He knows what he is talking about. His player Arturo Vidal went to argue with the referee Damir Skomina when the goal scored in the stoppage time of the in first-half by Eduardo Vargas was disallowed. It took the VAR and the referee a minute.

Everyone who was into the game felt a bit awkward – players, fans at the stadium, those in front of the TV, while waiting for the VAR’s decision. “If this is going to happen several times during a game, well it’s not very pleasant for the players”, commented the Cameroon coach Hugo Broos.

The situations described above have happened during the Confederations Cup match Chile vs Cameroon, won 2 – 0 by the South American team. We have seen to controversial goal situations – one of them recognized by the refs, another canceled after using the VAR.

In the other fixture for the day, a match that Portugal and Mexico have drawn 2:2, we have seen something we haven’t experienced before in a football game. Portugal’s Pepe celebrated wildly a goal, but his celebration was canceled – VAR’s again, another disallowed goal.

In all those three situations, the VAR’s decision was by the book. The decisions were the right ones and no one’s interest got damaged. Finally!? It has been something many of us waited for decades. Is there anything missing? Yes, there is something! It feels a bit weird, isn’t it? It is still football, but a game that we have experienced never before.

VAR technology is killing the emotions that football used to bring to all of us. It is not spontaneous anymore! You just cannot scream “Goooal”

The football now is not that exciting game anymore! With the VAR technology we can get any wrong decision repealed, but we cannot live in the moment! Football seems to be less magical now!

At the same time we will still keep watching it and it is still the game we love.

Well, the fact is that the VARs change the game and football is going in diffferent direction with the new rule that allow referees to use video replays to decide on certain situations. The technology’s future use is still about to be decided and it is unclear whether it will be adopted in all competitions. As of now we have been experiencing the VARs at the Confederations Cup in Russia and during the U-21 World Cup in Poland.

Does an offside of a razor-thin margin really matters?

Football has always been about decisions, made on the pitch. Right or wrong, those decisions have always affected the game. However, due to many decisions that went wrong on major football tournaments, there have been a growing pressure on the football bodies around the world to implement some from of video replays, that would help the referees to avoid wrong decisions.

Video review will give a lot of arguments, both “for” and “against” to the International Football Association Board (IFAB), the organization that creates the rules of the game. IFAB should decide by March 2018 whether to approve the use of VARs in the 2018 World Cup.

The confederations Cup in Russia has been considered as a very important test tournament for the VAR technology. There have been 4 incidents on the its second day that required the use of the video assistants. Despite being correct, the decisions made by the referees as result of VAR, still have created more controversy than FIFA expected. Why?

It is probably because it is football, not any other sport. In football, it has always been important the referee to decide fast, right at the moment. Anytime an official needed to consult before coming to certain resolution, the waiting process had created controversy.

Sometimes the margins, especially when the referee is about to decide on an offside are extremely thin. It could be 4 inch (10 cm). If the game is stopped and a VAR is used every time when an official needs to decide on whether there is an offside or not, at some point the referees would just stop taking responsibility  for their decision and would delegate it to their VAR colleagues. If this happens, the football will change a lot.

The good things that the VAR bring to football?

The decisions will be more precise, therefore the game would be more objective. At the end of the match, the fans and the players would know that they haven’t been robbed by the referee, who could always make a wrong decision.

The integrity of the football referees will not be questioned or at least the blame for the final result would not be on the math officials, as it has been on many occasions, especially when it comes to goals and offsides.

The VARs decision-making process is relatively fast. It takes no more than a minute. The TV channels would love when a certain situation is going to the VARs, as they get a 30 – 60 seconds in which they’d display commercials.

The negative side of VARs

The use of VARs will make the game less spontaneous. The video replays will be breaking the matches and kill the momentum for both teams. Killing the momentum means to kill the fans’ emotions, which probably  the most important thing in football.

Video Assistant Referee requires the use of an expensive technology, which means that VARs will be implemented only in the commercially successful football leagues and on the major tournaments. This would create double standards in football, as the rules would be applied differently, depending on the competitions.

It is too early to make conclusions on whether VAR technology is improving the overall quality of the football game and improves it. 25 years ago the football fans were quite skeptical when FIFA decided to prohibit goalkeepers from using their hands when a teammate passes the ball to them. This particular change made the game more dimming and interesting. It could be the same wit the Video Assistant Referees technology, we just need to give it some time.