Yesterday, a robbery was committed in broad daylight at Stamford Bridge. Tyneside-man Jacob Murphy was attacked not once, not twice, but thrice by London resident Trevor Chalobah, and despite the whole incident being caught on CCTV, he got away with it scot-free. In yet another damning indictment of the Premier League's use of the VAR system, Chelsea survived a vicious red card decision for Kai Havertz, then managed to not concede a penalty despite Chalobah pulling Murphy's shirt and kicking him twice, all in clear view of the VAR cameras. I have defended the idea of VAR since its inception, but the way we use it in England is backwards, frustrating, and downright stupid. That's why it needs to be in FIFA 23.
Let me first off mention that I'm a Newcastle fan, so I have some skin in the game. I was incensed at the decision, my mood worsened by the fact that just as we had almost earned a point at Stamford Bridge with our six best players out (six and a half if you include a not-match-fit Saint-Maximin), Kai Havertz nicked it at the death despite having led with his elbow in the first-half with a challenge that surely would have resulted in a Dan Burn red had the foul been the other way around. However, I don't think VAR, the referee, or the FA are corrupt. I just think they're terrible - and this is now a quintessential part of football.
Do big teams get more big calls? Probably. That's because big teams spend more time in the opposition box. Liverpool's Diaz was almost decapitated against Brighton the day before, and VAR again did nothing. Chelsea have been hit with sanctions so severe their golden era is now over, their stadium will be empty for the rest of the season, three of their best defenders might leave for free in the summer, and there's even a chance (albeit a slim one) that the club may go into administration and even cease to exist. If the FA were in cahoots with Chelsea, you'd think it would involve more 'keeping the club alive' and less 'not giving penalties to Newcastle'. There is corruption in football at the highest level, but it includes enriching shareholders, paying agents, sending the World Cup to Qatar, and covering up sexual assault allegations. It doesn't concern itself with whether Newcastle might finish 11th instead of 14th.
The main problem is the referees in the Premier League are rubbish. Sure, the referee's always a wanker, but ten years ago England had some of the best refs in the world. We boo'd the likes of Webb, Poll, Clattenberg, and Dowd, but they were frequently chosen to referee in elite international competitions for a reason. These days, our most senior referee is Mike Dean. Michael Oliver is probably the league's best (he can't referee Newcastle games so I've never had any personal vendetta against him), but has been for the past few years and hasn't really developed as hoped. Bobby Madley was one of the better ones before being banned in controversial circumstances for a Snapchat post. We're running out of good refs, and we used to be the hub for them.
Referees may have a slight inherent bias, either to clubs or players. We'll never truly know. Certain players have more of a reputation for diving - if Raheem Sterling goes down, we suspect a dive, but if it's Kevin De Bruyne, we suspect a foul. Even watching the game, my first reaction to the Murphy foul was to lambast him for not getting the ball across - I would have had the same reaction for Longstaff or Almiron. Had it instead been Fraser, Trippier, Targett, or Bruno (ie players I like), I would have been more sympathetic. Still, discussion of referees shouldn't dominate the aftermath of the weekend's football, but it inevitably does, and the longer it does the stranger it is that FIFA refuses to acknowledge it.
Right now, Mike Riley is in charge of England's officials, and he was unpopular even for a referee in his own days on the field, which doesn't bode well. It's clear referees get sickening amounts of abuse, will always be told they made the wrong call no matter what, and are vastly underpaid compared to the men they share a field with. There are deeper issues here, but it's hard to support the referees when they constantly hide behind complex and confusing rules they had a hand in writing (was Murphy's foul not clear and obvious? What of Diaz's?) and neither Riley nor anyone else from the organisation fronts up and discusses matters the way players and managers do. It seems a little rich that Thomas Tuchel has to answer for the invasion of Ukraine when a referee isn't even expected to answer for a penalty decision.
Riley is something of a throwback figure, and the game has modernised. We have seen this with managers - Mourinho has lost his superpowers. Rafa Benitez, one of the most defensively sound coaches in Premier League history, turned Everton into a sieve. Steve Bruce and Sam Allardyce's keep-it-simple-stupid football has been woefully exposed in the modern era. Riley is still teaching keep-it-simple-stupid refereeing. It is still being woefully exposed. Liverpool fans may be somewhat willing to let VAR's lack of intervention slide this weekend, given the team won and Diaz was fine. Newcastle fans less so. A few weeks ago Chelsea were on the other end, complaining of unfair offside lines against Liverpool in the League Cup final. It's a huge talking point, yet it's not in FIFA at all.
In international tournaments, VAR works significantly better. Part of that is because there is a cluster of elite referees, part of it is because international football is slower, but mostly it's because VAR is used correctly. In international tournaments, the VAR only has to think it's worth the on-field ref having another look to check what he thinks. In the PL, it has to be a 'clear and obvious' error, meaning 'go to the monitor' is tantamount to 'you have got it badly wrong'. Since VAR in the PL means correcting your mate, it doesn't happen unless they're 100 percent sure. With Murphy's, for example, the reasoning was that the VAR did not believe there was enough of a shirt pull to warrant him falling to the floor, which may be correct. But these days you need to highlight a foul to stand any chance. Never mind that the ref gave a corner, clearly thinking Chalobah had tackled Murphy, even though he twice made contact with Murphy's leg and never touched the ball. He made an error. Though, because Murphy went down easily, it was deemed to not be a clear and obvious one. Clearly, obviously, VAR is broken. My god though, it's entertaining. It needs to be in FIFA.
FIFA is supposed to reflect real-world football, and VAR is a major part of real-world football. Would we mostly skip the animations? Sure. Would I find the 'play on even if it's offside' rule immensely frustrating? You betcha. Would I seethe at the nothing-in-it fouls that chalked off my last-minute winner? Absolutely. But only if it happened to me. It would be hilarious the other way around. VAR isn't being used properly, but it brings a unique joy when used well. England's Euro penalty against Denmark was soft but you better believe I was screaming for it when the replays showed a nibble on Sterling. FIFA's referees have long been passengers, with soulless AI making empty decisions with instantly precise offsides and often nonsensical sendings off. With better AI and the implementation of a VAR system, FIFA could add a new sense of spice to proceedings. Just don't let John Brooks run the VAR room.