VAR’s audios, when released, reveal dialogues that look more like an undecided friends about which pizza asks for a highly trained team making decisions in a billionaire championship
The always proud of being one of the richest in talent and passion. Here, the sport is more than a game; It is part of the national identity, a billionaire economic engine and a passion that crosses generations. But there is a problem that insists on staining this greatness: the amateur. In a championship where billions of reais are at stake and where the credibility of football is essential to keep fans and engaged investors, as we still accept that the main national competitions are decided by referees who do not live exclusively from football? How is it possible that a referee, who on Sunday whistles a classic against thousands of fans and millions of viewers, on Monday returns to his other job as an engineer, teacher or banking?
While the world professionalizes, Brazil is left behind
If we look at the great leagues of the world, the difference is stark. In The referees are hired by an independent body, receive continuous training and have technical and psychological support to maintain a high level of performance. In In Spain, judges undergo frequent assessments and, in case of serious errors, can be removed. In Serie A Italian, transparency in the use of OUR Helps maintain the credibility of the game.
Here in Brazil? The scenario is completely different. The referee who makes decisions that can define a relegation or a title does not train daily, does not study throws frequently and often needs to balance arbitration with another profession to pay the bills. How to expect excellence when the system itself does not offer the necessary preparation?
Arbitration errors: when the var is just a blurry mirror
If before the scolding of the fans boiled down to misconceptions on the field, now the problem has multiplied with the . Technology, which should minimize errors and guarantee more justice to the game, has become a real wireless phone.
With each round, new controversial moves emerge. What should be a precision tool has become a puzzle, where interpretation changes according to the scaled referee. VAR, which should serve as goggles for arbitration to see better, often gets more disturbed than helps – as if wearing changed lenses.
VAR’s audios, when released, reveal dialogues that look more like an undecided friends about which pizza asks than a highly trained team making decisions in a billionaire championship. The result? An increasingly suspicious fan and a championship that loses credibility round after round.
And the worst: There is no clear punishment for errors. Referees who commit failures continue to whistle as if nothing has happened. While in other leagues there are strict evaluation and removal criteria, in Brazil the judge misses on Sunday and is still cast on Wednesday, as if it were a goalkeeper who “took a chicken”, but is still starting because there is no other to put in place.
Direct impact on clubs as companies
Clubs are not just football teams – These are companies with increasingly sophisticated management models, with millionaire budgets and responsibility for investors and fans. But how to manage a business when the product – football – becomes hostage to an archaic arbitration system?
A bad arbitration can ruin a whole season. A serious mistake can mean the difference between playing a Libertadores and facing a emptied calendar. And that’s not just a sports issue – it’s money. Awards, TV quotas and sponsorship contracts can be drastically impacted by wrong decisions on the pitch.
The recent transformations in Brazilian football, with the arrival of the model PAINT SOCIETY OF FOOTBALL (SAF)show that sports management should be viewed as a serious business. Clubs that invest heavily in planning, technology and hiring need to compete in fair conditions. If the arbitration system does not follow this evolution, the financial imbalance generated by arbitration errors endangers the entire economic stability of the sector.
The risk for sponsors and TV stations
Football is one of Main commercial products in Brazilmoving billionaire figures in advertising and transmission rights. But which company wants to associate its brand with a championship full of controversy and distrust?
The logic is simple: if the fan loses interest because he does not trust arbitration, the audience falls. If the audience falls, sponsors reconsider their investments and the transmission rights devalue. No broadcaster wants to pay millions for a tournament where the result may seem manipulated by incompetence or lack of criteria.
And for the brands? Investing in a championship without credibility is like announcing at an event that no one takes seriously. In the long run, large companies can start redirecting their investments to other better structured competitions or sports. The fan is not just in love with the club – He is a consumer of the product football. Pay dearly to watch the games, whether on the stadium or on TV. Purchase shirts, signs streaming services, moves the economy of the sport.
But how long will this consumer continue to pay for a constantly disappointment product? A fan who spends hundreds of reais to go to a stadium wants at least a fair and well -conducted game. When arbitration fails recurrently, patience is over. And when the consumer stops buying, the market feels the impact.
The urgency of the CBF: professionalize arbitration or lose credibility
Brazilian arbitration needs to change, and this necessarily involves the professionalization of the referees. You can no longer treat the function as a “beak”. Judges must act full time, with fixed salary, frequent training and strict assessments, with removal in case of serious errors. In addition, they need continuous training, following the standard of major European leagues, and an independent body that supervises its performance without the influence of the CBF.
Technology also needs to evolve. VAR must have clear criteria, be operated by trained professionals and have their audios disclosed with transparency. Decision time needs to be reduced so that the game is not hostage to endless revisions, further wearing the fan confidence.
No more amateurism!
Arbitration cannot be an obstacle to the growth of Brazilian football. If clubs, sponsors, broadcasters and fans suffer from the lack of professionalism, it is because the problem is over the limit. Brazil is the country of football, but without changes, we risk becoming the country of distrust in football – and no one wants to pay to watch a show where credibility is at stake. Brazilian football has a chance to evolve, but arbitration needs to follow this transformation. Either we professionalize once and for all, or we will see our football lose value, respect and, worse, the passion of those who always made this sport be great: the fan.
*This text does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the young Pan.
