How do Finnish football referees perceive the introduction of the video assistant refereeing system (VAR) in football?

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Volume Title

School of Business | Master's thesis

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Date

2024

Department

Tieto- ja palvelujohtamisen laitos

Major/Subject

Mcode

Degree programme

Information and Service Management (ISM)

Language

en

Pages

50+2

Series

Abstract

The Video Assistant Refereeing system (VAR) has recently been introduced into the game of football as a technological tool for referees, and it has been met with differing opinions from players, fans and managers alike. Despite being introduced some years ago, the system is not yet in full use in Finland. This thesis researches the perceptions that Finnish football referees have about the introduction of VAR into Finnish football, as well as football as a whole, filling a gap in the existing research into VAR, and doing so through semi structured interviews with licensed Finnish football referees. It was found that the referees generally view VAR in a positive lens, due to the improvements it brings to football in fairness, cleanliness and how it functions as a safety net to lessen the effect of human error. These arguments are also supported by existing early literature on the statistical effects of VAR on football. As there are no blind spots on the football pitch with VAR, players cannot easily get away with trying to hide fouls or wrongdoing, as any situations can be rewatched by the VAR. This also means that players can focus on playing, as they can be sure any potential fouls against them will be spotted by the referees. However, some worries among the referees regarding over-reliance on the system exists, as well as uncertainty regarding the technological development of VAR and how it may affect the referees control over the game. Some see a risk, which may even have partially been realised around leagues with VAR in use, that referees get lazier and less confident with their whistling, instead relying on VAR to cover for any grave mistakes. Additionally, there exist worries about further developments of VAR leading to assistant referees being replaced by information systems in the future, breaking the composition of referee teams that are in place.

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Thesis advisor

Penttinen, Esko

Keywords

information systems, VAR, football, technological adaptation, coping

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Citation

Permanent link to this item

https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:aalto-202501191394

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[gradu] Kauppakorkeakoulu / BIZ