Opinion: Right now VAR isn't viewed as a tool to help officials, but as a way to send refs to the naughty corner

Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology continues to prove problematic for the Premier League. It has now been in place for four full seasons and a considerable chunk of fans and pundits seem to be in favour of scraping the technology. Such is the frustration regarding VAR, that Premier League clubs actually voted on whether or not it should be removed from the game. Frustrations towards VAR were recently summarised well by former Manchester United star, Wayne Rooney, when he said that we still get human error even with video assisted refereeing. This is one of the central critiques of the technology.

VAR seemed like a natural positive progression for football after the incredibly successful implementation of goal line technology. Goal line technology was first implemented in the Premier League during the 2013/14 season and overall has proved a remarkable success. This success is in part down to the simple black-or-white, objective nature associated with the decision goal line technology is asked to make; has the ball crossed the line or not?

VAR on the other hand is an attempt to introduce objectivity into what are usually somewhat subjective decisions. What happens with most VAR calls is that a foul is replayed for the referee, who then gets another chance to make their decision. While this does provide the referee with more information than they would have during live games, it doesn't remove human error from the officiating process because it is still a human making the decision.

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From RTÉ Radio 1's Today with Claire Byrne, Gavin Cooney from TheJournal.ie on whether VAR should be scrapped

With this said, I can’t help but feel the Pandora’s box has been opened with regards to VAR. Anyone who thinks life as a football fan was rosy before VAR, is misremembering the major calls to introduce the technology into the game to reduce incorrect decisions. Accordingly, if we must live with VAR, here are my three tips to improve the technology’s application in the Premier League.

1. Verbalise decisions

The rugby Champions Cup final in May provided a wonderful illustration of something football can learn from rugby union. During the final, the officials made a decision to send off Toulouse’s Richie Arnold. This was done after a review of a tackle which was deemed to merit a red card. The decision was verbalised by both the on-field ref and the video assistant ref. The tackle was high, contact was initiated from shoulder to head, and there were no mitigating circumstances. Case shut and closed, that’s a red card.

Premier League matches should adopt a similar strategy, whereby in order to stop games and send the referee to the monitor, the video assistant referee must have to explicitly verbalise why they think an incorrect decision has been made, and not just send the referee to the monitor "for a look". This would have 2 major benefits: Firstly, it may help the officials determine whether intervention is necessary by requiring them to explicitly communicate their rationale for overturning a decision. Secondly, it improves the transparency of the decisions being made for teams and fans. Currently, we can’t hear the decisions being made by officials and are left to fill in the blanks ourselves. Compelling referees to verbalise the rationale for their decision would provide players, coaches, and fans with the justification for the decision which has been made.

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From SKY Sports, Wayne Rooney, Roy Keane & Andy Cole on the Premier League potentially scrapping VAR

2. VAR as a tool – not a corrector

Former Premier League official, Mike Dean, revealed on a podcast that he once didn’t overturn a referee’s decision because the referee was "a mate" and he felt bad for him. This showcases a major issue with VAR in the Premier League. It is not viewed as a tool to help officials, but rather a corrective device used to send refs to the naughty corner when they have made a mistake. This has to be cut out because the efficacy of VAR is dependent on the official’s willingness to use the technology when it is needed. Again, I feel football can learn something from rugby here.

Referees in rugby union are in constant discourse with the video assistant officials when making decisions. You will frequently hear rugby union referees say they phrase 'On-field decision is… Can you check for…’
This is a brilliant system. The referee acknowledges that the decision they have made is based on what they were able to observe on the field and they then initiate the use of VAR and ask the video assistant official to check for mitigating circumstances, like fouls or offsides, which may render their on-field decision incorrect. At no point is the ref sent to the monitor because they have made a bad mistake. Instead they are an equal participant in the VAR process and are using the technology to improve their own decisions.

3. Widen the pool of officials

The Premier League is widely regarded as the best league in World football. The success of the Premier League is much owed to the international approach it adopted later in 1990s. The 1995 Bosman ruling, which saw Belgian footballer Jean-Marc Bosman take a case to the European Court of Justice, allowed all European players to move freely to the league. But the Premier League also has some of the finest players from Africa, Asia, and South America. This widens the pool of talent available to the Premier League which allows it to be the very best. If Manchester City were to rely solely on players from Manchester to pick form then it would be difficult for them to achieve the same level of success which they have, because this geographical restriction would omit too many valuable players from around the world, who could then play for their rivals.

Read more: Lights, cameras, football: how live football took over TV

So why is the Premier League refereed by nearly exclusively English officials? With the exception of the Australian official, Jarred Gillet, every single referee in the Premier League this season was English. How statistically likely is it that the best officials in the world all just so happen to be from England? Probably close to zero. Widen the talent pool of officials in the Premier League and give VAR a chance to succeed.

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The views expressed here are those of the author and do not represent or reflect the views of RTÉ