Opinion: What has VAR in rugby taught football?

by Tom Young

THE introduction of VAR to football has caused widespread debate. Many people argue that the addition of video technology is one which is very much needed to ease pressure on referees, however others say that Video Assistant Referees will take the soul away from the game.

Video technology has been in place in a number of sports for over a decade. Hawk-Eye was first used in cricket in a test match between Pakistan and England in April 2001, whilst it was first featured in tennis during the 2006 US Open.

However it wasn’t until the 2015 Rugby Union World Cup that it was introduced in a major rugby tournament. With VAR set to be used at this summer’s FIFA World Cup, what has VAR in rugby taught football?

Whilst the addition of VAR has helped both rugby league and rugby union, the technology does not always please everybody. A big issue with VAR in rugby is the time that it takes out of the game whilst the decision is made.

Although the clock is stopped, there seems an unnatural break in the game whilst decisions are made. Especially in rugby league, where there is times where a decision can take four to five minutes to be made, this can allow defending teams time to rest and regroup during periods of intense pressure, something which can be applied similarly in football.

The decisions made by VAR never please everybody, there will still be questions asked over the decision even after the video referee has been used. Take this year’s Six Nations as an example, with England leading Wales 12-0, Wales fly half Gareth Anscombe appears to beat England winger Anthony Watson to Steffan Evans kick to score, however the video referee disagreed and did not award the try, a decision which caused much controversy.

Decisions like this show football that whilst VAR may be able to eliminate blatant off-sides and dives, when it comes to the tight 50/50 decisions, they will never make a decision which will please everyone.

Issues such as these show that whilst the introduction of VAR in football may help to stop blatant errors by match officials, there is still a high chance that there will be a great deal of controversy, as seen in the past in rugby, when it comes to the tight, game changing decisions.