The use of Video Assistant Referees (VAR) is becoming more and more the norm, with the exception of a few low-level or minor tournaments, most tournaments are equipped with VAR systems wherever funds allow. Although the operators of VAR are also human beings and mistakes are inevitable, major misjudgments are extremely rare. However, the new problems that come with it cannot be ignored. Referees and side judges have become increasingly reliant on VAR, and their professional judgment seems to be weakening, with almost all of the key penalties in matches relying on VAR. this phenomenon has sparked widespread controversy. Recently, there is news that the function of VAR will be further expanded, and the referee's reliance on VAR will also increase.
According to the Times, an upcoming meeting of the IFA Council aims to discuss the expansion of VAR's powers and applications in the game. Currently, VAR mainly targets red cards, penalty kicks and goal-related penalties, which often directly influence the trend of the game. If a referee misjudges these scenarios on the field, the fairness and impartiality of the game will be seriously affected, and VAR has been established precisely to prevent these kinds of fatal errors from occurring. Now that the FIFA Council is looking to expand the power of VAR, this meeting will explore whether VAR should be involved in the awarding of free kicks, corners and second yellow cards.
Both corners and free kicks have the potential to score goals, and a second yellow card can lead to a red card, which indirectly affects the course of the match. Although the impact of corners and free kicks on the outcome of a match is relatively small, the number of interventions in a match will increase dramatically if VAR intervenes. This is because matches with a high number of corners and free kicks may have 10 or even 20 or more penalties awarded. Of course, if corners and free kicks don't intervene, then free kicks and corners for goals won't be disallowed, and incorrect calls for second yellow cards won't result in players being sent off. But the new rules will still revolve around goals, and recall that the second yellow card does the same thing, all revolving around whether or not the red card was correct.
If corners, free kicks and second yellow cards were brought under the purview of VAR, then incorrect free kicks and corners resulting in goals would be disallowed and incorrect second yellow cards would prevent players from being sent off. Whilst this would further enhance the fairness and impartiality of the game, the attendant problems would be an increase in the number of interruptions to the game, the duration of the game would be extended, and the involvement of VAR would also impact on the communication between the referee and the VAR, resulting in the consistency of the game being compromised.
More importantly, it will reduce the demands on the on-field referee and make the referee more dependent on VAR. Some of the major duties that should have been undertaken by the referee may be replaced by VAR, making the referee only responsible for penalizing some less important fouls. We need to consider this phenomenon from two perspectives: on the one hand, the pursuit of ultimate fairness and justice; on the other hand, the pursuit of consistency, spectacle, uncertainty, etc. of the game. The final result will be decided by voting. FIFA has four votes, and each of the four British soccer associations has one vote. If the rule change is approved by six votes, the change will go into effect.
