Video Assistant Referee (VAR) has been a source of controversy since August, 2019 when the technology was implemented into the Premier League in the UK. The purpose of the technology is to assist the in-game referee when there is uncertainty around a particular incident. The technology has been used in American Football, Rugby and many other sports to improve the regulation of a game. However, in the Premier League there is still ambiguity around decisions even after the assistance of VAR and this is frustrating for the fans at home and at the game, leaving questions marks around whether the technology is really improving the game.

Many games throughout the season to date have been largely impacted by controversial VAR decisions, with goals being ruled out for extremely narrow offsides, subjective handballs and non-existent fouls. VAR is only allowed to make a ruling on the game when a clear and obvious error occurs, but some of these farcical decisions have only created further confusion bringing about major criticism about the implementation of the technology on its first season in the premier league.

The main points of criticism being the lack of communication from the officials is leaving the fans in the dark, with long pauses up to 5 minutes long to make a decision. Killing the ebb and flow of the game and more importantly killing the passion of the game from the fans. Fans can no longer celebrate the euphoria of scoring a goal the moment the ball hits the back of the net, but instead wait nervously for VAR to clarify the goal and make a decision if it can stand. Leading to louder cheers for VAR decisions than goals on the pitch. Which as a football fan doesn’t feel right. We can only hope that the technology improves as VAR ages in the premier league.