Poll shock: fans say keep VAR
Delays before decisions is the greatest bugbear for supporters
VAR, the technology that was supposed to improve the standard of referees’ decision-making but has instead enraged football fans up and down the land, isn’t actually as unpopular as we all thought.
That’s the headline finding of an exclusive Mail on Sunday poll of Premier League supporters which shows that almost half those quizzed believe the Video Assistant Referee should be kept.
Supporters want decisions to be made faster, on-field referees to have a greater say and former players pushing buttons at VAR’s Stockley Park HQ.
But at the end of a week in which Wolves railroaded through a vote on the future of the system, our poll will be music to the ears of everyone who supports it.
Our exclusive canvass of over 1,000 fans of all ages and genders shows 48 per cent of them want to see VAR continue.
A healthy minority — 35 per cent — are in favour of scrapping it, but the results are sure to please the Premier League, who recently reaffirmed their stance that VAR remains ‘a very effective tool in supporting the match officials on the pitch’.
There are big gender discrepancies within those figures — 42 per cent of men want VAR to be binned, but only 27 per cent of women. Age-group differences are even more telling.
Only 19 per cent of tech-savvy 18 to 24year-olds, some of whom will have only hazy memories of a Premier League era before VAR, want to see VAR jettisoned, whereas 47 per cent of over-65s do.
VAR, introduced at the start of 2019-20 by a unanimous vote of topflight clubs to fix clear and obvious errors, has incurred the wrath of managers, players, pundits and fans on an almost industrial scale. Wolves, who seem to feel more maligned than most, have ratcheted up that dissent by triggering a vote on its future, which will be taken on June 6. Nottingham Forest are under investigation after challenging the referees’ body, PGMOL, to release audio recordings of a trio of contentious decisions in their recent 2-0 defeat at Everton.
And only this week outgoing Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp said he would scrap VAR in its current form — though not the concept — claiming officials weren’t using the tech properly.
Most fans in our poll certainly concurred with Klopp on systemic glitches, with the speed of decision-making — or rather the lack of it — perhaps the biggest bugbear.
Baffled fans regularly wait three minutes or more for decisions to appear on stadium screens and 62 per cent of respondents in our poll support a maximum time limit being imposed.
Maybe that explains why 42 per cent of those who regularly go to matches want VAR scrapped; 37 per cent of those who attend sometimes and 27 per cent of supporters who hardly ever go to games.
Another 61 per cent said decision-making needs to speed up if VAR is to continue while communicating better with fans (39 per cent) and using VAR less frequently (33 per cent) were also popular requests.
Other takeaways from our poll include an enthusiasm for former players being helicoptered into Stockley Park, with 56 per cent believing their knowledge would improve outcomes.
A thumping 68 per cent like the idea of on-field referees taking the lead when VAR pipes up over an incident of foul play.
Tellingly, and chiming with the thoughts of those who championed the system in the first place, 51 per cent believe scrapping VAR would lead to more inaccurate decisions being made, with just 32 per cent thinking decisions would improve.
The Premier League says VAR has increased correct decisionmaking from 82 per cent in 201819 to 96 per cent this season, yet they still get it in the neck for introducing a system which continues to divide opinion.
The votes of 20 Premier League clubs will decide its fate. The views of over 1,000 fans in our poll, meanwhile, suggest VAR has more support than previously assumed.
FOOTBALL fans have thrown their support behind VAR with more wanting to see the controversial system retained than scrapped.
In an exclusive poll for the Mail on Sunday just one in three supporters quizzed backed getting rid of the technology.
That will delight Premier League chiefs who insist the introduction of VAR five seasons ago has led to fewer wrong refereeing decisions. But it may also shock an army of critics, among them Wolves who last week triggered a vote on the system’s future to be held at the Premier League AGM on June 6.
In our poll of more than 1,000 Premier League fans, just 35 per cent of those questioned want to see the system binned with 48 per cent declaring it needs to be kept.
VAR is under scrutiny like never before with even outgoing Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp declaring on Friday that it is not fit for purpose in its current form.
Many ex-professionals have voiced their discontent, too. Columnist Danny Murphy writes in today’s MoS that he would be ‘ecstatic’ if VAR was ditched for good.
Tellingly, our exclusive poll does reveal that there is majority support for former players being recruited by refs’ body PGMOL at their VAR operation in West London.
And a massive 62 per cent of canvassed fans want a time limit on decisions being made by VAR.