In the world of soccer, the game is supposed to be free-flowing with not very many stoppages. But with VAR (Video Assistant Referee), fans have so many long delays and stops and starts, that it’s making soccer almost impossible to watch. 

We get it if you are making the game better and getting the calls right, but even that is not happening as in leagues all over the world. In the 2019-2020 season, there were 2,400 incidents that were checked through VAR and 109 decisions overturned the average check time is 50 seconds.  

Ex referee Mark Halsey agrees with VAR; he says “I think it’s actually good for the game. The game is so quick today, and obviously, it’s difficult for referees to keep up with the pace of the game which is end to end. And we have tackles flying in, all sorts going on. So, I think it’s really good for the game but only if it’s implemented correctly.”

Whereas Norweigan fan Mathias Eftedal believes the opposite; “I feel like celebrating goals isn’t what it felt like before. You always have that fear that the goal is going to be taken away, which isn’t the same experience I grew up with. Everyone wants every decision to be correct. But for me, it’s just a matter of how much you are willing to sacrifice to make every decision correct.”

The video assistant referee is something to improve because it is a great step in the right direction but when a game is being decided by a machine things need to change.