I Can't Stop Thinking About Var
Forward by Jonathan Wilson
Format:Hardback
Publisher:Swift Press
Published:7th Nov '24
Should be back in stock very soon
Is it football any more?
‘Everyone involved in the VAR controversy should read this short, beautifully-written book and think again’ Sir Michael Barber
In 2019, the English Premier League introduced the Video Assistant Referee (VAR), a way of using technology to review and correct the on-field referee’s decisions. It’s been a disaster: players hate it, managers hate it, pundits line up to pour scorn on its decisions, and fans have coined the chant ‘it’s not football any more’ to describe its effect on the game.
Almost every other sport in the world has managed to integrate technology into its decision-making process. Why is football failing so badly? Is it a special case, or have the game’s authorities got something wrong? And what does the controversy about VAR tell us about the nature of authority, rationality and technology in the 21st century?
‘Daisy Christodoulou, a season ticket holder at West Ham, brings her profound professional expertise in assessment and testing to bear. Her insights into the challenge of reaching good judgements are applied to VAR with rigour, wit and wisdom. Everyone involved in the VAR controversy should read this short, beautifully-written book and think again’ - Sir Michael Barber, author of Accomplishment: How to Achieve Ambitious and Challenging Things
‘VAR has killed something deep in football. With the passion of a lifelong fan and the laser insight of her day job, Daisy Christodoulou explains exactly what it is with a remarkable verve and exactitude’ Professor Helen Thompson, co-host of These Times and author of Disorder
'Clever, succinct, and remarkably far-reaching ... What marks this out as different – and mandatory reading for football's rule-makers – is that she puts forward a short, but persuasive, list of possible solution' - David James,The Critic
ISBN: 9781800754935
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: unknown
208 pages