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In the thick of it instead of just there: the VAR app is coming to the German Bundesliga

18.10.2023

Translation: machine translated

The DFB is finally listening to the fans. The decision-making process of the video assistant referee is to be made more transparent in future. A corresponding VAR app is to be used from the second half of the season at the earliest.

First cheers, then a murmur in the crowd: video evidence. The decision of the referee on the pitch is reviewed by the VAR or video assistant referee: does the goal count or not? The spectator at home normally at least has the replay. The fans in the stadium are left wondering what the final decision will be. And normally there is not even an explanation from the referee as to why the goal might not count. Often to the annoyance of the fans. This works much better in other sports.

The system is controversial, partly due to a lack of transparency. Many people say: If VAR, then please make it transparent. The referee should explain to everyone in the stadium why and how he or she came to this decision.

The DFB's head of video refereeing, Jochen Drees, had already toyed with the idea of establishing a VAR app in 2023. This app is specifically intended to make the decisions of the video assistant referee comprehensible for fans. Drees commented on the current status to dpa as follows:

We agree that an app can be an aid for spectators in the stadium. The idea phase has been completed, we are now in the planning phase and are asking ourselves how the implementation can succeed.

DFB-Videobeweischef Jochen Drees

What can the app do?

In a nutshell: The app is primarily intended to give fans in the stadium, but also those in front of the screens, more and more precise insights into the video referee's interventions and decision-making. There are also currently plans to give spectators access to the video sequences available to the VAR. This should allow fans to judge the situation from the referee's perspective.

The gold standard should simply be that stadium spectators and TV viewers see the same images in VAR situations.

DFB-Videobeweischef Jochen Drees

A further, very ambitious goal, according to Drees, is to make communication between referees and video assistants public. The Premier League did this a few weeks ago, for example, in relation to the incorrect decision regarding Liverpool's disallowed goal.

However, there is also still a need for clarification in this area, according to the DFB's head of video evidence: for example, possible legal problems and which platform to use for this.

What is still lacking?

As Drees notes, the DFB is currently in a planning phase and is considering how the implementation of such an app could work. Two points stand out. "Among other things, it's also about the utilisation of rights. And the system must work perfectly in the stadium," says Drees.

I think the functionality in the stadium is still very difficult at the moment. It's not unusual for me to have no internet reception when I visit stadiums in Germany because the network is mercilessly overloaded. Unfortunately, Germany is and will remain in the Stone Age in this area. So how this is supposed to work is a mystery to me. But hope dies last. Drees also emphasises that the final launch of the VAR app can be expected "during the second half of the season at the earliest".

What are other countries doing?

No country has an app in use yet. However, both England and Italy are already using other methods to improve the transparency of VAR decisions. In Italy, DAZN has been broadcasting the "VAR Open" format at the end of each match day for several weeks. In it, Italian head referee Gianluca Rocchi analyses and discusses individual scenes and decisions, including the radio traffic between the referee and video assistant referee. In England, there is also a show called "Match Officials: Mic'd Up". In it, the head of the referees' association PGMOL Howard Webb comments on various scenes. Radio recordings are also included here.

In my view, it will be exciting to see how such an innovation can change the stadium experience and whether it can promote the lack of acceptance of the video referee. Personally, I still think the concept of video refereeing is a good one, but unfortunately the implementation needs a lot of improvement.

What do you think of VAR? Do you like the idea of increasing the transparency of video evidence decisions? What improvements would you like to see in its implementation? Let me know in the comments.

Cover photo: Thomas Boecker/DFB

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