Three-quarters of fans don’t support the continued use of Video Assistant Referees (VAR) in the Premier League, according to a new Football Supporters’ Association survey.

Almost 8,000 fans of top-flight clubs responded to the FSA’s survey, more than 6,000 of whom had experienced a VAR decision in a stadium this season. When asked ‘taking all things into consideration, do you support the use of VAR in football?’ 75.7 per cent of fans replied ‘No’.

A significant 86 per cent of fans also expressed concerns about expanding VAR beyond its current remit.

Goalline technology – by which an almost-instant decision is transmitted to the referee to indicate whether the ball has crossed the line – retains widespread support, with 93 per cent of fans in favour of keeping it.

Additional findings:

• More than nine in ten fans (91.7 per cent) said VAR had removed the spontaneous joy of goal celebrations;
• Only 3.3 per cent of fans stated that the matchgoing experience is better with VAR;
• The majority (58 per cent) of fans wanted to retain the in-stadium announcements from referees;
• A hypothetical challenge system, whereby VAR interventions would be limited per game, had the support of almost half (47.2 per cent) of supporters;
• Only one in five fans (20.8 per cent) said they backed the expansion of VAR to check if corners had been correctly awarded.

Thomas Concannon, The FSA’s Premier League network manager, commented:  “These findings back up the FSA’s previous survey in 2021, where fans expressed misgivings about the introduction of VAR. The vast majority are reporting the same concerns five years on – the loss of spontaneity when celebrating goals, and an overall worsening of the match-going experience. We have shared the survey results with the Premier League and PGMO, and look forward to discussing its findings with them.”

The majority of those surveyed regularly attend matches – 50.3 per cent attended more than 15 home games in a typical season, and 86.7 per cent said they attended at least one home fixture. More than half (59.9 per cent) attend at least one away match per season.

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Categories: Articles, Consumer Behaviour, Research

Tags: football, premier league, VAR