March 20 – European football is heading for a VAR (video assistant referee) reset, but will it be for less or more? UEFA has summoned referee chiefs from the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga, and Ligue 1 for a summer summit to address growing concerns over how VAR is being applied across the game, and the consistency of the platform from league to league. UEFA head of refereeing Roberto Rosetti will lead the meetings. He has previously warned that football risks drifting into a world of “microscopic VAR interventions.” A version where every touch, deflection, and subjective call is dissected frame by frame. “I believe that we forgot the reason why VAR was introduced,” Rosetti said. “In objective decisions, it is fantastic. For interpretations, subjective evaluation is more difficult. That’s why we started to speak about clear and obvious mistakes…clear evidence.” That principle guiding light was clear and obvious and is meant to be VAR’s guardrail. Instead, its application now varies wildly. The Premier League, statistically the least interventionist at 0.275 reviews per game, remains a miniefield of weekly controversy. Elsewhere, in Europe, intervention rates climb with 0.38 in La Liga and the Bundesliga, 0.44 in Serie A, 0.47 in Ligue 1, and 0.45 in the UEFA Champions League. As forensic VAR becomes prevalent, the more it risks stripping away the instinctive, human elements that define the sport. A toe, shoulder, wrist offside by millimeters, a handball judged by slow-motion replay, while technically correct decisions do not reflect the spirit of the game? UEFA’s aim is to realign interpretation and create “one technical language,” particularly around subjective laws like handball. This summer’s meeting may standardise the process. Whether it answers that deeper question is another matter entirely. Contact the writer of this story at moc.l 1773981580 labto 1773981580 ofdlr 1773981580 owedi 1773981580 sni@r 1773981580 etsbe 1773981580 w.kci 1773981580 n 1773981580
Curated by Taleb Kabbara · Source: www.insideworldfootball.com