Why Var has struggled so far. 

Video assistant referees ( VAR) has been controversial since its introduction in the 2019/20 season and I have experienced a part reasoning as to why it might not have succeeded yet.

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Countless errors have been made particularly this season in the 23/24 campaign which caused Wolves to call for a vote in order for it to get scrapped. However with the voting having been completed today 19 clubs out of 20 voted in favour of keeping the technology ahead of the new campaign. 

PGMOL have been forced to defend their officials all season which is not a good look for English refereeing and they must do better in this coming season. 

The time taken to determine a decision , the impact on goal celebrations, hostility towards match officials, and the cloud surrounding the law of the game are all problems regarding VAR.

For me VAR is a useful tool that should be utilised by referees in game to come to the correct decision but this has not been the case on numerous occasions. Whether it be a lack of communication from the officials or confusion about the rules the people in charge of the the technology have caused these mistakes to be made. 

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I was shown the poor quality of refereeing  when I completed my referee course in February. There was a handball decision which needed to be made and the two leaders of the course said the decision was easy. However when it came to them revealing their answers, they both disagreed, one thought it was handball and the other did not. This should not be the case on a referee course when I as a trainee was learning the rules in more detail. It proved to me that making decisions was totally about interpretation and that the referees do not actually know or agree. 

If the rules were simply understood, we would not be in this predicament as there would be no need for interpretation and it would be purely about the lawbook. While there is a clear need to interpret each decision in detail, fans will remain unhappy as it can seem like bias which we cannot have in the professional game.  The Fa need to take time to make clear what each rule means so everyone can determine whether it is a foul or not straightaway. Then if the wrong decision is made, it is clear for everyone to see.

The soul of football has been sucked out this season from delayed goal celebrations as you are spent waiting to determine whether it was legal or not. By the time the decision comes around, the emotion has gone.The timings it takes to look at each call is too consuming and not what you want to see at each game. The endless added time is a burden and this needs to change. 

The referees and the training in this country for the officials needs to improve if we are ever going to be able to utilise VAR properly. With so little effort put in for the referees it is no surprise that they are struggling on the field.

Who is at fault for the failure of VAR so far?