Manning's team suffered another key misjudgement in the current round of the China League One, an incident that not only inspired controversy over the use of VAR technology in the league, but also reflected the high cost issues behind VAR technology, which may even lead to economic and legal disputes. Even the Asian Top 36 tournament cannot ensure that every home game can enjoy the escort of VAR technology. In the tug-of-war between fairness and cost, people may eventually prefer to give up VAR in order to reach a seemingly acceptable balance.
Turning to the vision of China's non-top leagues, if we want to crack this dilemma, we might as well learn from the innovative thinking of the Vietnam Football Association.
In the past, Vietnamese soccer came to prominence, the field was once chaotic, and the fans were wildly enthusiastic.In 2019, when they witnessed the introduction of VAR technology in Thailand, they were both envious and coy.The popularity of VAR seemed unattainable. So, they asked FIFA for help, while traveling to Japan to study and learn, and returned home to train technicians and collect equipment with the help of Chinese sponsorship, which led to the realization of VAR in some matches of the national team.
As the strength of the national team has increased, the demand for VAR in the league has also risen. The Vietnam Football Association (VFA) has started to explore a more economical VAR solution - remote VAR. the introduction of VAR has indeed made the game more fair and transparent. Faced with the surge in demand for VAR this year, the Vietnam Football Association (VFA) has once again come up with a new cost-saving strategy: using VAR only in key matches.
What are key matches? The Vietnam Football Association's definition covers key matches in first division leagues, cup semi-finals and finals, as well as second and third division leagues and women's soccer leagues. In order to expand the application of VAR, the Vietnam Football Association is fully prepared to invite FIFA and West Asian referees to come and teach their national referees how to shorten the waiting time caused by VAR technology.
The popularization of VAR technology is a foregone conclusion, and in the future all major leagues may need to introduce more modern technology to adapt to the reality. Rejecting these technologies may face an untenable dilemma, while moderate use and partial coverage may be a realistic compromise to meet this challenge.
