Trying to Put a VAR Genie Back in a Bottle
When VAR was originally introduced, the idea was that it would be used to avoid "clear and obvious" errors and who could doubt the wisdom of that. Unfortunately, mission creep has occurred on a massive scale and now VAR (or TMO, video ref, big screen) is used on such a massive scale that it is allowed to disrupt games to a far greater extent than originally envisaged. We have reached a point where sport is no longer recognisable. The flow and continuity of the game is disrupted and any drama is often dissipated. This is true for all major football codes (soccer, union and league) but it is particularly a problem in soccer where decisions are often analysed to such a minute degree that the game can be interrupted for up to ten minutes. This takes place in winter and players are left standing around in pouring rain or freezing cold. Spectators suffer in bad weather too and they are often oblivious to the VAR decisions being made. Obviously, accurate decision making is importa...