Check out this letter sent to Football365 regarding VAR at the World Cup. I found myself thinking of this discussion, and nodding my head in agreement. Obviously soccer-focused, but change a few soccer terms for rugby ones and it's on point
"Welcome to Rule Ball, people! Where teams compete to see how much they can cheat, con, harangue and play act. A competition to see how well they can manipulate and intimidate the referee enough to gain advantage for their team! The crowd can join in too! Forget about goals, itâs VAR referrals youâve come to see and we can promise you plenty!!!!
Last night was abysmal. If there ever was a spirit of the game, it has well and truly been exorcised. As flawed as the âoldâ system was, there was one thing absolute; the refereeâs authority. It could be discussed, protested, deplored but not overruled. VAR, on the other hand creates doubt, uncertainty, indecision and ultimately panic. Yes, panic. I reckon some of these refs are bricking it when they hear something has gone to referral â âoh shit, what have I missed now!â Pomposity and arrogance are a good thing for a person being shouted at for being a âpiston wristed gibbonâ for close to 2 hours, especially when they need to control 22 baying idiots who expel any decency and sportsmanship from their character as soon as the whistle blows.
Sepp Blatter, for all his many faults, had a few decent traits. One of them was his guiding principle that the football played in the World Cup final should be the same as any match played anywhere on the planet at any level. And in that was included the rules and how they were officiated. Whatâs wrong with that? Elite footballers are already as removed from the general masses as multi-millionaire elite young athletes can be. Why not apply this one leveller?
Also people seem to be losing sight of what the rules are actually for. They are there to ensure a game of association football can take place. They overarching aim is that people play the bloody game. The stretching and use of rules for your own teamâs advantage has been done probably seconds after the first set of rules were scratched down by posh toffs in top hats.
The offside trap is a great example â it wasnât created so teams could step up to create an offside situation but thatâs how the rule was bent to teamsâ advantage. Ok, it happens. Now though, with the absolute authority of the referee removed, teams know that every rule is up for grabs to be bent, twisted, manipulated and the authority of the referee can be bypassed. Look how many players scream for VAR for everything!
For pityâs sake, we had a player geeing up the crowd to make noise as the referee went to the pitch side screen! While all that is happening the actual football has stopped being played. As I said, this is not the purpose of the rules. The rules are there principally to ensure a game of football can take place. The referees are taking centre stage too often in this World Cup through no fault of their own. That is not the purpose of football.
In conclusion, I would just like to ask how is anything improved by a 100% adherence to the rules. Not just football, anything? It leads to pettiness and the small minded taking charge of situations as theyâre the only ones with the will to make sure every rule is followed. What we have at the moment is Ruleball. I want to watch football. Scrap the whole VAR nonsense, bring back Blatterâs guiding principle and letâs encourage teams and supporters to try and actually play instead of creating situations for VAR review."
