STOCKHOLM — As the Swedish league kicks off this spring, yellow-and-black-clad supporters of Stockholm club AIK will unveil a giant banner that tells the long and vivid story of modern soccer's dark forces conquering the world. I raised it.
“Whole World? No!” read the words that appear on the giant display. “In fact, there was a small area surrounded by the smoldering ruins of modern football that successfully resisted the invaders.”
The intruder in this case is VAR. VAR is a high-tech video review system that was formally incorporated into football law in 2018 to help referees make the right decisions at critical moments.
Most leagues around the world are now using this technology, but Sweden is an exception in holding up the game and keeping it in its purest form.
The Swedish league is the only league in Europe's top 30 that has not yet implemented this system. That won't happen anytime soon either.
“VAR is a symbol of modern commercialized football, which is on the brink of destruction,” said Ola Schus, vice president of ASK, the AIK's biggest supporters' organization.
Thews is more than just an avid AIK fan. He was instrumental in mobilizing anti-VAR sentiment among Sweden's top clubs and was instrumental in pushing through a motion in AIK against the introduction of VAR before the Swedish Football Federation had a chance to introduce it.
This is possible because Swedish clubs are majority-controlled by their members, or supporters, under regulations that state members must control at least 50% plus one of the club's shares.
The federation initially appeared to want to operate VAR, but after all, the technology is used at European and international level, so it is not against the wishes of member-run clubs. As a result, the federation has put on hold further discussions on the introduction of VAR, saying last week that it has no plans to introduce it in the foreseeable future.
It's a big win for Sweden's match-going fans, who are proud of their status as the rebels in European football.
No VAR. There are no unreachable American owners or oil money from the Middle East. A culture that values fans.
In their opinion, this is how soccer should be played.
VAR “ruins the euphoria” that football brings, Shoes said. “The absolute happiness and passion you get when a goal is conceded or a goal scored, or the sadness and sadness you get when you don’t know what happened until it’s considered and decided in the VAR room.”
Compared to other sports, soccer lags behind video replays. In the United States, the NFL introduced instant replay in the mid-1980s, but discontinued the system in 1991 due to widespread dissatisfaction. They returned in his 1999 and expanded to other major leagues in North America and international sports such as cricket and rugby.
For soccer, pausing for video review can seem more disruptive. Especially since the VAR system has its imperfections.
In the English Premier League, during Liverpool's loss to Tottenham in October, a valid goal was denied due to miscommunication between the video review official and the on-field referee. A few weeks later, a total of 21 minutes of added stoppage time was added to the match between Tottenham and Chelsea, largely due to numerous video reviews. Earlier this month, Nottingham Forest issued an inflammatory statement questioning the integrity of match referees after they were denied what appeared to be three clear penalty shouts that were missed by the video referee.
In Spain, following the VAR-related controversy in the recent Clasico with Real Madrid, Barcelona threatened legal action to force a rematch.
Meanwhile, across the Swedish border in Norway, fans who were already unhappy with the country's federation's adoption of VAR last year, before member clubs had a unified position, are embracing the technology after just one season. I'm becoming increasingly disillusioned. In one game, it took him seven minutes before VAR ruled him offside. FIFA's original vision was that VAR should take less than six seconds.
“Over the course of the season, opposition has increased significantly since VAR was fully implemented, and many supporters, football staff, coaches and players are also dissatisfied,” said Norwegian Supporters Union president Anders Källevold. told Theater. Associated Press.
As Norway's supporters group begins the long process of trying to remove VAR from competitions, Kellevold looks on with envy at Sweden.
“We try to take inspiration from Sweden, what they did, how they organized and influenced the club,” he said. “The process is delayed, but we are actually trying to do something similar.”
Sweden's rather isolationist position on VAR reflects the country's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sweden stood out in Europe, and in many other parts of the world, for relying on its citizens' sense of duty to protect their citizens by keeping schools open and choosing not to impose a lockdown.
A few years later, Sweden once again became an anomaly, this time in the world of soccer.
Svante Samuelsson, sporting director of the organization that runs Sweden's top league, said that without VAR, not only the country's referees but also the players could be at a disadvantage when it comes to performing on the international stage. I am aware that there is a gender.
But Samuelsson also understands the importance of fan emotion.
“Swedish supporters are particularly influenced by the Premier League photo, which further strengthens their belief that they are against VAR,” Samuelsson said from his Stockholm office. “If there is a goal, they want to know right away whether it is a goal or not, without having to wait for a subsequent decision. Their logic is that it is better to be wrong than to have to wait.”
In England, before VAR was introduced for the 2019-20 season, the Premier League ruled that 82% of referee calls were 'correct', according to figures published by rights holder Sky Sports in February. was. The league says 96% of calls are correct due to the use of VAR.
In Sweden, head referee Martin Ingvarsson has recorded every glaring mistake made by match referees in the Allsvenskan top flight. Ingvarsson told the AP that there were 41 situations in the past two seasons where VAR would have intervened had it been used.
That's not a problem for shoes at all.
“I think anything that involves actual, flesh-and-blood people is going to be incomplete,” he says. “That's the beauty of it.”
AIK midfielder Bersanto Serina agrees.
“That's the right way to play football. It's pure,” Serena told The Associated Press. “Referees are part of the game and sometimes make mistakes.”
It is not easy to find support for VAR among Swedish players and coaches. After all, it's not very nice to disagree with members of the club.
In other words, a more healthy discussion can take place among fans.
Hans Bolling and Nils-Olov Söslin have been watching AIK matches together for almost 30 years. They realized that the current conversation mainly revolves around his VAR, with each taking a different position.
“It was good that we waited a little longer compared to other countries,” Zetlin said ahead of AIK's match against Varnamo in the Swedish capital on a cold Tuesday night last week. “But I think it's a little strange to say 'no' to certain new technologies when they're developed in the right way.
“You can't just look back. You have to look to the future.”
Holding a cup of coffee, Mr. Boling offered his opinion with a smile.
“It destroys the flow of the game,” he said. “VAR is for TV spectators, not stadium-going spectators.
“We don't need that and we will never accept it at AIK.”
