VAR has to go

I just posted this on X, and thought I should post it here too. After all I am interested in record-keeping.

The bottom line on the VAR discussion is this, and you don't need to believe in any conspiracy theory to follow it:

1) Is VAR — and sensor data — the perfect tool for nudging results in a desired direction, if you apply it selectively, shamelessly, and without any moral? The answer, of course, is yes. When there is inconsistency in when VAR and sensor data get used, in how far back you can rewind a play to reverse it, in which situations are checked and which are quietly waved on, in which slice of the sensor data is shown to the public and which is never shown at all — and, most importantly, in when the referee stops play early and when he lets the game run — then you could, if you wished, control almost any outcome. Football is a contact sport built out of thousands of 50-50s. Sway all of them in one team's direction and that team wins. Simple as that. VAR doesn't just make this easy. It makes it legal.

2) Whether or not you believe it is actually happening, the fact remains that it absolutely could be happening. Knowing that, would you be comfortable putting this tool in the hands of people who — put very politely — are notoriously opportunistic, own no shame whatsoever, and don't hesitate to hand out favours to their powerful friends, as blatantly evidenced by the FIFA Peace Prize and the Balogun red card? Of course not. It would be madness. Especially when you know that stars and profiles drive all of it: the profits, the TV ratings, the sponsor value.

It is incredibly naive to dismiss this as a conspiracy theory and tin-foil-hat reasoning. When they have the audacity to carry it out right in front of us, with the whole world watching, we have to demand change — if we are to keep any self-respect at all in this madness that is our world. Infantino has to go, and VAR should go with him: an initially promising but ultimately failed experiment, because it has the potential to concentrate far too much power in the wrong hands.

And I haven't even touched the more philosophical side of the VAR debate — what we actually love about football. The spontaneity, the surprise, the chaos, the deep immersion in the present moment. VAR is taking that from us too.

Two easy decisions, after all.