I bloody love football. Everything about the sport just ticks the boxes for me. Often, I can lose entire weekends watching build up punditry during breakfast, 12pm kick-off with dinner, evening matches with tea and then move to somewhere a bit more continental to see out the evening in Spain, France or even as far as the US for that extra footballing fix.

Despite this, I often find myself thinking of how the game could possibly become better. In these blog posts, I will take a part of the ‘Almost’ Beautiful Game, and examine ways that this part of football could be improved.

This time, I am going to take a look at everybody’s least favourite introduction from the 19/20 season, VAR. It was only a matter of time before this part of the game needed to be reviewed for one of these posts, and now seems as good of a time as any. This season saw the introduction of VAR to the Premier League, and despite many thinking it would end the controversy of refereeing, it has undoubtedly brought even more controversy and debate. It’s obvious that in England, we have completely bottled it with regards to VAR and refereeing has felt so poor over the league season. Therefore, I have looked at 5 possible suggestions of how VAR could possibly be corrected or improved.

Offside Technology

The first change to VAR, despite the calls for less technology involvement, should actually be introducing even more technology into the game. We have goal-line technology almost down to a tee (minus the Aston Villa incident), and the technology regarding the ball crossing the line could surely be adapted and used as a measure of offside decisions.

This season, we have seen players called for offside due to literally their big toe being offside, or having hair follicles keeping players onside. Now of course there are deep underlying issues with this around the entire offside rule and what constitutes an unfair advantage, does 2cm offside give the attacker much of a head start? To deal with that issue would have to be a whole other post, however despite the ridiculous nature of offside calls this season, I still agree with the rule. No matter how it’s judged, the offside calls will naturally be just cm in differences, and that’s unfortunately the nature of the game. Modern attackers should be well-aware of their position and hold their run to ensure any risk of being caught offside is avoided.

My main issue with the VAR offside calls however, are not the rule itself but the time it takes for the decision to be made. The general discussion of VAR claimed it would solve any ‘clear and obvious error’, but is a 5-minute check for mm decisions which are unclear to the human eye without measuring lines on the screen really clearing up errors, or just adding to them. At what freeze-frame has the pass officially been made, and how accurate do we need to be. Because of the massive stoppages which do seem to slow the game down and halt any momentum for either side, there needs to be some clearer and quicker decision making. Linesmen/women are the first point of call, but with some adaption of the hawkeye technology, we could have instant offside calls being made with near perfect accuracy.

I have no idea where to begin with adapting the goal-line technology, however we are able to map out players heatmaps, track distances run by everyone on the pitch, and calculate every players touches and influence on the game. Surely, using some form of tracking system on each player, or side-line cameras, we can have an instant offside buzzer that would be conclusive and immediately accessible. This change would ensure that all offsides were called for fairly and are undisputed in the same way we have the goal-line technology which everyone accepts as a positive change in the game.

Challenges

Tennis, rugby (union and league), cricket, and even through to athletics and badminton, all sport has adapted to technological improvements which increase accuracy of decision making and ultimately make the competition fairer and more even. Football however is the only sport that I can think of in the UK where technology has caused such controversy. VAR has been used across Europe with general acceptance and success to my knowledge, and players and fans have all come to terms with it. In the Premier League however, we seem so slow to adapt to any modernisations that it has just been fumbled and half-arsed all season long. Referees have not seemed confident in using the technology, decisions have been slow and confusing for fans in attendance and the rulings have actually highlighted flaws in the rules of the game.

Because we are having to embrace the change and come kicking and screaming into the 21st century, football need to look at other sports for guidance. Yes football is the biggest sport in the country, but we are doing the worst job regarding VAR of any. My first point of call would be cricket, a sport that has been using technology for years with great success. The use of Ultra-edge, DRS and Hawkeye has certainly improved decisions in the game and ease pressure on the umpires regarding tough calls. I understand that cricket is a much slower paced game than football, however the technology actually adds to the tension and intrigue of a game.

The reason I am suggesting to look at cricket is because they have perfected their use of a ‘review’ system. When a player is called as ‘out’ or ‘not out’ the batting or fielding team then take responsibility for their use of the technology reviews to judge whether a correct decision was made by the on-field umpire or not. The main reason I like this, is that it’s a quick decision with just 15 seconds to decide if they want to review, the use of technology is limited and also it puts the pressure on the players to decide. If the referees are making bad calls, then either the captain or manager should be able to ask for a review which would trigger the VAR to check the decision. This would ensure that VAR is being used to check decisions at the will of the opposing teams, not occasionally when the referee may have made an error. As we’ve seen, VAR is meaning referees are unwilling to make some decisions, and then the rules for it’s use mean some yellow card challenges aren’t being called correctly.

Under my suggestion, each team would have 2/3 reviews/challenges similar to that of cricket, or the worse version of football in the NFL. The manager would then decide if they feel it necessary to review a tackle or offside call that they believe was an error. The referee would still be forced to make the right calls at the time, however it would mean that managers and players need to put their money where their mouth is instead of moaning and complaining about the VAR decision making process.

Robot Referees

Now I never claimed all my ideas would be genius, so just go with me on this one. Basically, I don’t like referees. I think in recent years, some of the Premier League referees have become too ‘renowned’ for different reasons. At no point in a game should the referee be zoomed in on due to their decision making or flamboyancy towards their job (looking at you Deany). I always have thought that if I’ve watched a game of football for 90 minutes, and don’t know who the referee was, then they have done their job to perfection. Unfortunately, those games are becoming fewer and fewer as referees are gaining their own personality and recognisable traits. Almost every Premier League referee is a household name for regular viewers, and they’re even appearing in the FIFA video games.

So, if you’re still sticking with me here, I have 2 words… ROBOT REFEREES.

I’m not talking like terminator, or creepy sci-fi creatures that look like they’ve got lost on the set of Doctor Who. But why not? As technology develops we are able to place cameras all round the pitch already with 360 degree views and 3D replays etc, so why don’t we remove the error-prone human beings who despite their best efforts to keep up with games often make errors and are running 10km+ week in week out trying to make split second decisions.

There are many ways you could approach this, you either take out the referee all-together and create some AI powered rule machine which makes perfect calls immediately, or the more likely option that if we have referees as Stockley Park watching the game form all angles, then they can make the call and the 4th official (what would now be the 1st official) can blow the whistle and give the decision on-field. This would allow us to have maybe 3 experienced referees all making the calls on a majority decision basis, and it takes away the ‘referee personality’ factor. Players can’t influence the decisions or argue every decision because there wouldn’t be anyone to argue with, instead the refs are in a box miles away making accurate decisions where they can see all angles in real-time and ensure consistency in applying the rules.

Doesn’t sound so crazy now… right? Right??

Rule Changes

Okay I’m gonna try and keep this one short and sweet because I will ramble on too long if not. But basically, the entire rule book needs a serious overhaul. We need a consistent ruling for handball, for offside and for yellow/red card decisions. I understand that the rules are constantly reviewed and updated, however clearly some players, managers and even referees are struggling to keep up with decisions. The handball rule is now well-documented as nonsense with players literally falling over and having the ball kicked against them are giving away handballs? Absolute nonsense. We can have the handball rule but use some context of the game, just because it’s hit the players hand, was it avoidable in any way? If not, then it surely can’t be given. With offside, then we all need to be on the same page regarding what parts of the body are and aren’t offside and when exactly has the pass been played. Finally, yellow cards need more clarity, is there a rule of 3 fouls and you’re booked? Well then why are some referees giving 4 chances, and some 5? Just clear up the uncertainty and ensure every player, manager and referee attends some form of course to check their understanding, maybe take a couple of pundits too.

Getting Square-Eyes

Premier League referees need to watch the TV’s. It’s as simple as that.

If a referee has ruled the game for 80+ minutes in a way that they’re willing to let challenges go a bit more, or have been trigger happy with bookings, then they’re the best placed person to review any controversial incidents. The referee’s at Stockley Park again bring up the issue of different refereeing styles and egos. A referee in a derby match with the atmosphere may be willing to give a yellow card over a red based on earlier decisions, while the VAR official who is reading directly from the rule book might state that it’s a stonewall red. For me, the VAR should be there as purely a whisper in the on-field referees ear to “go take a look”. The final decision needs to come from the on-field official only, VAR can highlight and clear up any missed moments or provide the clarity for offsides etc. But the referees in the Premier League need to follow the footsteps of Serie A and LA Liga and just watch the screens. Not just going along with the voice in their ear and pointing to the earpiece to try and claim innocence over a decision, go out there and referee.

VAR is a tool for assisting referees, not a get out of jail free card.