Is it football any more?
‘Everyone involved in the VAR controversy should read this short, beautifully-written book and think again’ Sir Michael Barber
In 2019, the English Premier League introduced the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), a way of using technology to review and correct the on-field referee’s decisions. It’s been a disaster: players hate it, managers hate it, pundits line up to pour scorn on its decisions, and fans have coined the chant ‘it’s not football any more’ to describe its effect on the game.
Almost every other sport in the world has managed to integrate technology into its decision-making process. Why is football failing so badly? Is it a special case, or have the game’s authorities got something wrong? And what does the controversy about VAR tell us about the nature of authority, rationality and technology in the 21st century?
About the author
Jonathan Wilson is a writer and broadcaster. He founded and edits the football quarterly The Blizzard, is a columnist for the Guardian and World Soccer, writes for Unherd and is a regular guest on the Football Weekly podcast.
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