For decades, major international football tournaments have been dogged by persistent rumors of third-party manipulation of match results. While high-profile scandals occasionally break that implicate players and match officials in match-fixing schemes, proving that final scores do not reflect on-pitch performance has long remained an enormous challenge. Many football fans accepted the disruptions and stoppages that came with the introduction of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system, clinging to the promise that the technology would deliver greater fairness to the sport. Now, that optimism has been exposed as unfounded: far from leveling the playing field, VAR has actually opened a new door for premeditated manipulation of matches, argues Dutch sports commentator Mireille Hoepel.
In recent years, the evolution of VAR’s role in elite football has turned the system into the single most decisive factor in match outcomes, allowing results to be shaped long before the final whistle blows. Particularly controversial decisions during recent UEFA Champions League quarter-finals have fueled claims of off-field direction: critics suggest hidden regulators are dictating when and how matches will be influenced to fit a pre-planned narrative.
Contrary to the core principle laid out when VAR was introduced, that the on-field referee would retain final authority over all decisions, the traditional on-pitch official has been reduced to little more than a figurehead for the VAR team. It is now common for referees to make an initial on-site call that no infraction has occurred, only to be pressured into reviewing the incident on the sideline monitor and ultimately adopting the decision preferred by the VAR team. Hoepel argues it is long past time for on-field officials to reassert their authority and break free from the influence of VAR.
The idea that elite football matches can now be decided behind closed doors by VAR teams is nothing short of scandalous. Beyond stripping matches of their spontaneous, unpredictable energy that makes the sport beloved by millions, VAR now dictates to on-field referees on everything from whether a red card is justified to whether a goal should stand. Hoepel stresses that the entire role of VAR in top football is in urgent need of comprehensive review; without reform, the system will become fertile ground for match-fixing speculators, with devastating consequences for the sport.
Football as a whole gains nothing when matches and tournaments become predictable pre-scripted events, decided not by brilliant team play or individual moments of genius, but by off-field decisions. With the FIFA World Cup rapidly approaching, there is no more urgent time to scale back VAR’s overreach and redefine its role to avoid negative disruption to match flow. The World Cup is meant to be a stage where emerging talents can showcase their skills to a global audience, even when that leads to the early elimination of pre-tournament favorites. This upcoming tournament must be a celebration of surprise and on-pitch talent, not a scripted production controlled by VAR.