Encyclopedia of Opinion
Question
Should VAR be used in football?
Position1 of 3›
Yes. VAR is a net positive to the game
Argument‹6 of 6

VAR should lead to less complaining

Players swarming the referee after a bad decision can completely disrupt a match, and often complaints overshadow the events on the pitch entirely. If the referee could see everything clearly on video there should be less tedious controversy.

The argument

The use of VAR in football is an important tool to reduce controversies and delays due to unclarities on the pitch. Everyone is familiar with the heated discussions between players and the referee after a decision that is deemed to be unfair or unclear to one of the two teams on the pitch. Oftentimes, the heated emotions are echoed by the fans that can demonstrate their anger in ways that interrupt the flow of the game. VAR is of great use to ease these situations by offering footage of the incident in question from different angles. The footage can be replayed and analysed with different speeds to help the referee get a better overview of what has really happened on the pitch. With this information, a more informed decision can be made that leads to an overall fairer outcome that should reduce the complaints of players and fans during the game. VAR makes the decisions less open to criticism due to transparency on what it is based on. Overall, it rationalises the decisions of the referee and makes him less prone to complaints of being corrupt or guided by emotions.

Context

VAR stands for Video assistance referee and is a new way technology is used to help football referees on the field when they make decisions. They are mainly used for determining goals, penalty decisions, direct red cards or mistaken identity incidents. The video footage helps the referee to take a decision after viewing the video material. Anyhow, the use of VAR is controversially discussed as it could potentially underpin the role of the referee on the field.

Premises

[P1]VAR reduces on-pitch controversies by offering replayable footage of an incident from multiple angles and speeds, letting the referee get a better overview of what really happened. [P2] Basing decisions on this transparent evidence produces fairer, more rational outcomes that are less open to accusations of bias or corruption, so players and fans have less to complain about. [C] Therefore VAR should lead to less complaining, making it a net positive to the game.

Counter-arguments

VAR will not lead to less complaining as it is a highly controversial technology itself. Decisions that are based on it are equally questioned as it was prominently the case with the last British Premier League. The time that is saved because players don’t directly complain to the referee is lost to the effort of viewing the video footage. This is a far lengthier interruption of the game than traditional interruption caused after a controversial decision.

Rejecting the premises

Facts don’t eradicate controversy.

Framing

Complaints will reduce with more transparency on the referee’s decisions.