SFSA BLUE PLAQUES LAUNCH FIND OUT MORE
Date: 27th March 2026
VAR, VAR AWAY!!
By Donald C Stewart
A few weeks ago, I wrote about how the fan protest at Parkhead involving tennis balls on the pitch was something I found amusing. I’m quite sure there’s a suit somewhere that would suggest that a public order offence was committed. I’ve also talked about how the use of pyrotechnics adds atmosphere and perhaps there is a way of ensuring the safety and security of those around the people who are setting them off.
Fan protests and the ability of supporters to support their club, not just by turning up and paying at the turnstiles, but by having a voice is something that we at the Scottish Football Supporters Association take very seriously.
And the thing that really grinds my gears increasingly over the last few seasons is VAR.
The use of Video Assistant Referees to try and eliminate mistakes – goals not being given or offsides being misapplied – is an admirable wish.
I accept that VAR has led to less mistakes. There have been times when goals have been disallowed, rightly so, or red cards given, rightly so, because VAR has intervened.
I am still, however, more of the opinion that VAR has been an experiment that has been nice, worthwhile doing but it is time to shake our head, admit our mistakes and move on.
And so the fan protest in Germany a few weeks ago in Preußen Münster demonstrated what they thought of VAR and this was funnier than the tennis balls.
During a game a referee was off to look at the monitor when a supporter snuck behind and pulled the plug. Instead of looking at what was to support him in making his decision, he was looking at a blank screen. Did I find this amusing? Yes, I did, because I like the idea of supporters taking some form of action, of giving to the blazers and suits the message that we find something difficult to stomach.
So, here is the reason why I find VAR difficult.
Football is a subjective sport. Yes, there are times when VAR has managed to make it more clinical and therefore easy to comprehend and understand because it has intervened when a human being has got something wrong.
It is, however, managed by humans. It is not a robotic structure. It does not make decisions based upon data but supplies that information to a human who then must make the decision. Because of that, there are two flaws.
It takes far too long. Football is a rapid sport where the spectator is wanting to have things settled and dealt with in a speedy manner. We don’t want to be sitting there waiting for minutes, stretching on further in time with the possibility that the spectacle that we have just seen where our team has either scored or not whilst we wait to commiserate or celebrate.
Fitba’ is the mass participation sport that pioneered instant gratification. That’s not a 21st Century millennial problem. That’s a footballing issue. We are attracted to the sport because it’s instantaneous.
Two, it has not eliminated the human error. We were tellt that this would find the types of discussions in television studios being held online, on field, with experts, i.e. referees.
That’s not been the case.
The way, for example, in rugby, you hear the discussions between the referee, the players, and their VAR has not been replicated – often the pundits in a TV studio know more than the people at the live event.
Spectators in rugby can comprehend far more readily why decisions are made and how they are arrived at. It’s not the same in football. We don’t have that transparency. Therefore, we have no clarity. It is vitally important that football address this.
Why? Because it undermines safety, security and confidence in the decision-making process. It makes us believe that something is hidden.
Should those two things be improved upon, i.e. that it is a much more rapid process and that there is much more transparency, would I still consider VAR a positive?
No.
And wo when the fan nipped behind the monitor and yanked out the cable whilst fellow supporters on the stand unfurled a banner reading “PULL THE PLUG AND VAR” in the stands, I salute you.
The report I read finished with the final line – “message received.”
The problem we have in Scotland, and it’s not unique to the authorities in Scotland, is that sometimes the message is received, but it is simply not understood.
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Tags: #VAR, oor Donald, Scottish fans, SFA