IMAGE SOURCE: depositphotos.com
The game of football is constantly changing. Rule updates, new tactical philosophies, and improved sports science are driving the game forward, making it faster, more skillful, and more demanding.
Few things have changed football quite as much as VAR. Since its top-flight rollout in Australia, it has found its way to almost every professional domestic league and has been met with plenty of controversy along the way. In this article, we look at how VAR works and ask whether it creates a divide between top divisions and lower leagues. Read on to learn more.
How Does VAR Work?
VAR stands for Video Assistant Referee. In a VAR system, a dedicated team of officials monitors a network of up to 42 camera feeds, which broadcast the game from various angles. These officials can pause, slow down, reverse, and zoom in to analyze key moments and check for rule infringements.
VAR officials communicate with the on-field referee through a headset. If the on-field referee makes a clear and obvious error or misses a serious incident, the VAR team calls them over to the monitor to review the footage, giving them the opportunity to rethink and potentially change their decision.
However, VAR cannot intervene in every situation. It can only get involved in incidents involving goals and rule infringements leading up to goals, penalties and rule infringements leading up to penalties, direct red cards, and mistaken identity.
Is the Technology Helping?
VAR is designed to help referees, who are often under immense pressure during games. While VAR systems use sophisticated technology, they are still operated by people who are prone to error.
VAR mistakes are rare, particularly now that the technology has been used for so long, but it is not foolproof. Despite occasional errors, VAR is helping referees, who are often under immense pressure during games. Referees can’t be everywhere on the pitch at once, so VAR allows them to review incidents they may have missed amid the fervent chaos of a game.
However, some claim VAR is ruining the game and destroying passion and excitement. There’s no worse feeling than celebrating a last-minute goal only to have it chopped off after a VAR review. It’s like claiming grand wins on top-tier UK casinos only to have your winnings taken away due to a technicality that is beyond your control. While the latter is highly unlikely for casino players, the former is, unfortunately, a regular occurrence on the football pitch.
Creating a Divide
Italy’s Serie B and Spain’s Segunda Division are among the only second-division leagues in the world using VAR. VAR is reserved only for the domestic top-flight everywhere else, including the cash-rich Championship in England.
This raises several issues. First, just because teams play in different divisions doesn’t mean they never face each other. Cup competitions often pit top-flight teams against lower-ranked opposition. Given that these top-flight teams will have extensive experience with VAR and their opponents will not, is its use really fair?
Another issue is that lower divisions are often where young players ply their trade and develop the skills and abilities necessary to move up to the top flight. VAR is changing how the game is played, tackles must be more carefully considered, and handballs must be avoided at all costs. Can young players switch from playing with no VAR to playing under its eye at all times?
We’re seeing a divide being created between divisions with VAR and without. As technology further influences the way the game is played and the standards by which it is refereed, it’s almost as if we’re seeing a schism that is creating two different sports.
This is antithetical to football’s entire pyramid philosophy, which states that teams can theoretically rise from the lowly ranks of the bottom division and ascend all the way to the top.
Will We See VAR in the Lower Leagues?
The fact that even the English Championship, a division awash with money, doesn’t use VAR should tell you everything you need to know.
VARs are expensive to install, maintain, and operate. They involve setting up camera networks, constructing review centers, and hiring additional staff to man the equipment and monitor the screens.
For this reason, it isn’t feasible for most lower divisions to adopt VAR, especially leagues like Scotland, where finances are stretched paper thin. However, stranger things have happened in football, so we could see VAR introduced in lower leagues at some point in the future.
Conclusion
For all the good VAR is doing for the game, there is an argument that it is creating a divide between top-flights and lower divisions. Unless we see the technology rolled out at every level of the football pyramid, it will continue to create an unbalanced playing field that could have far-reaching consequences.
