"We are in the era of VAR (Video assistant referee), so the fourth official may be able to support the referee’s and assistant referees’ decisions based on replay footages.”

"We are in the era of VAR (Video assistant referee), so the fourth official may be able to support the referee’s and assistant referees’ decisions based on replay footages.”

With such occurrences, many have expressed their opinions that, “in order to make the correct decision, the referees should be allowed to use external information.” It is truly surprising to see many of the people who works in the football organizations and those who are well versed in football are also supporting this idea.

Since the formation of The Football Association (The FA) in 1863, football has been a sport that is primarily ruled by the human eyes for nearly one and a half century. TV broadcasting started in the 1950s, followed by replay footages, and TV coverage from multi-angles. Super slow motion replays became available with the use of super high speed cameras, and we have entered an era where the TV viewers can observe every little detail on the pitch, but football had kept its philosophy to have humans make the decisions of the game.

However, more people are voicing out that, “in a match where a large amount of money is at stake with a single goal, a single victory or defeat, there is no room for an obvious misjudgement.” As a result, a technological method to judge a goal was introduced, as "Goal-line technology (GLT)" was implemented in 2012. Following the use of GLT, VAR was officially implemented at the 2018 World Cup, and we are about to see VAR getting widely spread among top leagues and major tournaments of the world.

Following last year’s World Cup, FIFA has announced that 99.35% of all match changing decisions were correct with VAR, compared to 95.6% without VAR. However, I am not getting the impression that football has become a better sport with the adaptation of this new technology. In fact, I feel that the intrinsic joy of football is now lost with the introduction of VAR.

When looking at the tidal current of other sports, it is unavoidable that VAR has become the trend of this era. The issue here is that the International Football Association Board (IFAB), the body that determines the laws of the game of football, has set an extremely strict standard and protocol for the use of GLT and VAR, and only those who has the approval of IFAB is allowed to implement the system.

Regardless of the implementation of GLT or VAR, the basic principles of football refereeing does not change. The match will always be ruled by the referees on the pitch, who will give their utmost efforts to make the correct decisions and hold responsible for their calls. And perhaps the most important aspect is that the players and staffs of both teams and the viewers of the match show respect towards the effort and responsibility displayed by the referees, and keep on playing with accepting their decisions.

Why should the referees not make calls based on external information--

Because if we allow it, the “culture of football” will fall apart.

Currently, GLT and VAR can be implemented in only a fraction of the matches. If there are 200 million football teams worldwide, there should be over 2 billion matches played yearly. Among all the matches, GLT and VAR will be used in less than 10,000 matches, leaving 99.9995% of the matches with just the referees on the pitch to rule the match. If the culture of football, where the people pays respect to the decisions made by the referees, is lost, football will become a miserable sport.

I do not want to see parents holding up their smartphones during a kids’ football match to tell the referees, “look at this, it’s obviously a goal!” Supporting ideas like the opening statement means to go against the most noble principle of football, where we must play with respect towards the referees and their decisions. Such rash and imprudent behaviour can deeply harm the value of football.

VAR will become a necessity in televised football matches and in highly anticipated football events of the world. We have never faced an era where the respect towards the referees are in demand to this degree. We must all acknowledge that we are standing on the verge of a huge turning point.

Written by OSUMI Yoshiyuki (Football Journalist)

*This article was originally posted on the Japan Football Association Newsletter, “JFAnews,” August 2019 edition.

Japan Football Association Newsletter “JFAnews”

The Japan Football Association Newsletter “JFAnews” contains all the information on the Japan National Team, and all the events hosted by the JFA. Tournament results and team information throughout the nation are also available. The official monthly magazine is a must read for coaches, referees, and all members of the football family.

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