The dueling mandates of VAR are making it a crappy system

The current replay system stinks but it is trying to accomplish an impossible task with contradictory requirements

The Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system in the Premier League is a mess.

Today’s post comes in light of a missed call in the match between Tottenham and Brighton but this could have been written after any number of high-profile controversies this season.

In the Brighton match, there is a ball in the air that Kaoru Mitoma of Brighton brings down the ball lands in front of him and Pierre-Emile Højbjerg of Tottenham challenges for the ball but misses ultimately with his foot coming down on Mitoma’s foot.

Watching the match live I thought it was a foul and a penalty, watching on relay I was sure it was a foul, but to the main person it mattered, the referee it was not a foul.

So why didn’t the VAR intervene here and recommend that he take a second look?

In my opinion, It all comes down to trying to do the impossible task of trying to eliminate clear and obvious errors but also trying to not disrupt the flow of the match with extended stoppages to re-officiate every call.