The concept behind the VAR is sound, in the sense that the purpose is to support the on-field referee in the goal of having important decisions be accurate, especially regarding offsides, goals, penalties, red card violations, and other significant incidents. So then, VAR is to help uphold the integrity of the sport, which it does seem to have done well on behalf of soccer. The crux of the problem though, is the utilization of VAR, and thereby the reviewing of a particular incident always takes time, which is especially problematic when it comes to the scoring of a goal, for before VAR came into play, all a player or fan had to do was see if the offsides flag was raised, or if the on-field referee indicated that there was a foul, and if not, the goal was scored. Nowadays, with VAR, every single goal is reviewed by VAR, which means that since a meaningful percentage of these goals end up becoming non-goals, it definitely deadens the excitement of those who are the fans, because until VAR confirms a goal, it isn’t officially a goal, and therein lies the rub.
Look, it has to be said, that the sport of soccer is played for the fans, for without any fans, as in those watching at home as well as those at the stadium, there wouldn’t be any revenue coming in. This signifies that when it comes to VAR, it is the fans, that really should or should not determine whether they desire to continue to have VAR. While, it is true, that without VAR, there would be more decisions that would be technically incorrect, it has to be admitted, that the on-field referee gets it right a very high percentage of the time, and seldom makes a truly gross and obvious error.
As it is presently, one possible solution to the VAR woes is for each side of the soccer game to be permitted to make one VAR challenge per game. That is to say, whichever side feels that an on-field decision is in error, would be able to make a challenge, and if upheld, then they would retain that challenge for another possible incident, and if wrong in their challenge, they would no longer be able to call upon VAR for the remainder of the game. This seems like a fair compromise for the usage of the VAR because it would bring back the spontaneity of the game, which most fans appreciate and desire – along with permitting to review those incidents that appear to be in error.
In sum, soccer is a game, meant to be enjoyed by the fans, who may not really care as to whether each decision made on the field is absolutely accurate 100% of the time. As it stands, the on-field refereeing does a very good job of getting it right, subject to human error, and the fact is that some of the decisions currently being overturned by VAR are so close, that no human could get it right 100% of the time, of which, most of the time, those on-field decisions being made are in the spirit of the game, just fine, which is why VAR needs to be modified, for the good and continued enjoyment of the game.