📱 eBook en inglés I CAN'T STOP THINKING ABOUT VAR

SHORTLISTED IN THE CHARLES TYRWHITT SPORTS BOOK AWARDS 2025

Is it football any more?

Fascinating and persuasiveThe Herald

Everyone involved in the VAR controversy should read this short, beautifully-written book and think again Sir Michael Barber

In 2019, the English Premier League introduced the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), a way of using technology to review and correct the on-field referees decisions. Its been a disaster: players hate it, managers hate it, pundits line up to pour scorn on its decisions, and fans have coined the chant its not football any more to describe its effect on the game.

Almost every other sport in the world has managed to integrate technology into its decision-making process. Why is football failing so badly? Is it a special case, or have the games authorities got something wrong? And what does the controversy about VAR tell us about the nature of authority, rationality and technology in the 21st century?