Soccer: in the Netherlands, decisions made with VAR will be explained to the public

Brussels – Why is it not a goal? Was it really offside? Is it really a penalty foul? The referees, who every Sunday have to make decisions that inevitably cause discussion among the fans of one team or the other, will answer these and other questions related to an ordinary soccer match. The Netherlands is taking up a transparency operation that will see referees explain directly to the public the reports they receive from assistants on incidents requiring VAR, the technological aid that allows one to review on a screen what happened.

VAR, conceived as a “pitch Moviola”, was created to eliminate oversights that often influence the course of matches. In Italy, one of the most controversial episodes ever was a goal disallowed to Turone, a player then with Roma, in a clash with Juventus that was decisive in the title race. The decision was so much disputed that it led to the realisation, decades later, of a documentary.

In today’s Netherlands, the straw that broke the camel’s back with indignation and rhetoric is a penalty awarded to PSV Eindhoven in the match against AZ Alkmaar (which ended 2-2 and tied by PSV thanks to the disputed penalty). Hence, the KNVB, the Dutch soccer federation, decided to resort to announcements on the pitch to explain the decisions made by the video refereeing panel (VAR). 

The experiment will start during this weekend’s Dutch Cup matches. The goal is to make VAR reviews less controversial by allowing the video referee to communicate directly with the crowd via the headset worn by the referee on the field. 

The Netherlands was among the first to introduce VAR in soccer in the 2018–19 season and is now among the first to give a public account of the choices made after a closed-door review in the appropriate control room (in England, the use of explanation to fans has already happened last week).