Why VAR Is Ruining Football’s Spirit
From disallowed goals to phantom penalties, VAR is making fans question every call — and ruining the game.
VAR was supposed to fix refereeing errors. Instead, it’s creating a new kind of chaos.
In recent seasons, fans have watched goals ruled out for fractional offsides — sometimes measured by a toe or armpit. And handball penalties have been awarded for incidents so marginal they’ve left even experts baffled — like in the 2023–24 Premier League season, when a soft call inside the box overturned a crucial match.
Worse, the process remains slow and inconsistent. Even with semi-automated offside technology being tested in 2024, the delays frustrate fans, and decisions often appear arbitrary. Referees are second-guessed, spontaneity is lost, and the emotional highs of the game — the immediate goal celebrations — are routinely deflated by long VAR checks.
It’s time to simplify. Some leagues, like Sweden’s Allsvenskan, have opted against implementing VAR altogether. Maybe it’s time to follow their lead — to trust the flow of the game and the fallibility of human judgment, rather than drag football into forensic over-analysis.