A Simple VAR Fix
We were all of 14 minutes into the new season when the VAR’s comical inability to apply the laws of the game once again turned football into a farce. Bournemouth defender Marco Senesi clearly chose to wave his arm at the ball and knocked it out of the air. That is the definition of a handball at any level of the sport. But Antony Taylor and the VAR decided that the incident, despite occurring with Ekitike beginning a breakaway, did not constitute foul play. So here we are, after the first weekend of the season, again discussing the EPL’s and PGMOL’s complete inability to utilize technology on one of football’s biggest stages properly.
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The current system of assigning a different official to VAR each match is part of the problem. Having ten sets of eyes looking at games each weekend guarantees variation of interpretation across matches. Furthermore, drawing VAR personnel from the ranks of on-field match officials creates a situation where officials appear averse to overturning the calls of their colleagues lest they embarrass them and overturn their calls. Major League Baseball has faced a similar issue and offers a potential solution.
Baseball’s Version
MLB no longer allows on-field umpires to conduct replay reviews. Instead, all reviews are handled from a central office in New York City. Before they did so, umpires could improperly apply video evidence. Angel Hernandez, widely considered by baseball fans to be the worst umpire of the last 30 years, saw irrefutable evidence that his call on a potential home run was wrong and stuck with his original on-field decision.
Baseball faced a problem that no amount of technology can ensure correct calls when the officials refuse to use it properly. So now, replay challenges are out of the umpires’ hands. As a result, when a manager argued with a replay decision in 2022, the home plate umpire responded on a hot mic, “Once I send it to New York, it’s their f–king call.”
Attempting To Re-Shape VAR
A similar system for the EPL would help reduce the lengthy list of VAR controversies. Having a single set of officials making all VAR calls should increase consistency. Ideally, they would be full-time VAR officials, specializing in how to use the technology and reach correct decisions with it. With training, experience, and specialization should come greater skill. Additionally, the distance this could create between VAR officials and on-field officials would be a good thing, preventing a club of chums from looking out for each other.
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This system would hardly fix all VAR issues. One deeper problem this fix will not address is that no one seems to know what a handball is. The Premier League Match Centre inexplicably defended the decision from our opener. The laws of the game apply different standards to attackers and defenders, which I find bizarre. There is also so much disagreement over intentionality. It shouldn’t have to be Luis Suarez vs. Ghana-level cynicism to be a handball. Debate about unnatural arm positions and reaction times is exhausting. It often feels that handball calls are made up as we go along. But if we can at least have the same people making the decision each time, we can have greater consistency, consistency that can help us create greater fairness, even while we debate further fixes.