VAR makes football fairer

Goalline technology came too late for West Germany in 1966 - some fans still refuse to believe Geoff Hurst's second goal crossed the line - and England in 2010, when Frank Lampard's shot against Germany definitely crossed the line. However, since its introduction to the World Cup in 2014, it has worked seamlessly and those arguments are consigned to the past. Players know that if a goal is scored, it will be awarded. Likewise with offsides under the VAR system, players know that if a player was offside when he or she scored, play will be brought back. That creates a level playing field and helps enhance the fairness in which the game is played. It ends debates over whether a team fairly or unfairly won a match, especially because the more technology is used, the fewer obvious fouls are being missed by match officials.

Where the laws of the game are objective and there is a clear either/or option for referees to take, technology has taken that decision out of their hands. Goalline technology alerts the referee as soon as the ball is over the line, eliminating the potential for errors. Likewise with the offside rule, whereas previously it was up to the referee and his assistants to judge in real time whether a player had strayed offside, now whenever a goal is scored, the VAR system is used to check whether offside should have been called. Again, this eliminates potentially unfair goals being awarded.