Does Football Need Perfection?

Football is trying to become the perfect game. No wrong decisions, no incidents that leave people confused, with a completely fair playing field for the teams taking part. This is through both the introduction of VAR and improvement of officials. However, do we really need perfection in the game, is it worth what is happening right now, which to be honest, is far from perfect.

Go back not too long ago and pubs up and down the UK would be full of football fans using phrases such as ‘the decisions didn’t go our way’ or ‘the referee cost us that one’. These were talking points, incidents we argued over for hours, sometimes even days with those in our social circles. We felt let down and unfairly treated, but after the heat had been taken out of the situation it was often left with a ‘that’s football’ or ‘sometimes they go your way and sometimes they don’t’ before we all went to the next game.

VAR is aiming to bring an end to that. VAR, if installed properly, alongside thorough training for the officials would make the officiating of the game perfect. Every decision, whether made by the referee, VAR or a combination of the two would be correct, and no one would feel hard done by, or like they had been cheated out of valuable points. But if that was the case, what would we talk about in the pubs around the country? Does football need this level of perfection in the game?

One group of people who would argue that we do need it in the game is gamblers. The betting stats show that millions of people up and down the country place bets on football every single week. For those, a wrong decision could be the difference maker between winning or losing a life changing sum of money. They do want everything to be scrutinised and everything to be 100% right. We’ve all been on the right side of a dodgy decision in the past, but when the stakes are high, we certainly don’t want to be on the wrong end of one.

VAR is influencing the game in a massive way, and while things are not perfect yet, and it will take time for that to be the case, there is good reason for introducing it. This will give us the correct decisions time and time again, meaning the right outcome for every game is what it should be. The impact of Var cannot be underestimated, and we are now even at the stage where some new betting sites accept bets on whether VAR will be used in a game, such is the focus on this being used and most importantly being correct.

So, while those down the pub may be sat twiddling their thumbs with nothing to talk about if VAR rules on every decision, at least we know the right decisions are being made. This is a big money sport on many different levels, with a lot at stake for some people and it is vital that everything is done to ensure the games are refereed properly, with every possible technology source used.