“VAR, go away!”
In bold capital letters, in Norwegian, Lillestrøm fans displayed in the stands, in a match against Rosenborg, the feeling of their fans, which reflects that of a country.
Norway is refractory to VAR, the video assistant referee, which, with technology resources, helps the field referee make decisions in football matches.
The objective is to avoid, by consulting images of the plays, “clear and obvious errors”, which I understand, for example, as an unmarked offside in which the attacker is one body in front of the defender, or an unmarked penalty in which the defender slaps the ball or kicks the opponent, or an athlete is sent off without having participated in the play (error of identity).
However, the VAR has interfered in millimeter impediments and in completely dubious moves when marking penalties, which are not assertive but interpretive.
In addition to disrespecting its purpose, it causes discomfort by blocking the game. The dynamics stop so that the checks can be made, so that the field referee goes to the monitor to check whether or not there is reason in the video referee’s appointment.
It often takes several minutes (three, four, more) to reach the verdict, which is also often not convincing.
This generates discomfort, indignation, irritation. It’s not good for spectators of the game, whether on the field, at home, in the bar, or anywhere. An endless bore, making you sleepy and/or angry.
Even with these drawbacks, VAR, tested since 2016 and endorsed by the football authorities in 2018, caught on. It became synonymous with “fairness in football”, and leagues in countries with the financial means to implement it did so, with the exception of Sweden, which took these drawbacks into account.
Now, Sweden’s neighbor Norway, dissatisfied with the mechanism, could become the first nation to scrap VAR after having introduced it. The noise is growing, whether from clubs, players or fans.
In September last year, in an ESPN report, a Norwegian fan, asked about the video referee, was direct: “It’s rubbish. Nobody wants it here.”
Some of them wear t-shirts in stadiums with the inscription “VAR” and an “X” over the letters, in order to show their disapproval.
The revolt reached the point where, during matches, in protest against VAR, fans went beyond chants and banners and threw tennis balls, smoke bombs and even food onto the pitch, such as bread, sweets and pieces of fish pie.
Because their desire to get rid of the annoying character is close to being fulfilled.
A few days ago, in a vote promoted by Norsk Toppfotball, an association that brings together 32 Norwegian clubs (16 from the first division and 16 from the second), 19 voted to discontinue VAR.
This result will be taken to the country’s football federation, which will decide whether to maintain or exclude VAR from this year’s season, which starts at the end of March.
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