SVT Sport has read a letter to the Swedish Football Association and the district associations in which nine Allsvenskan clubs jointly oppose the introduction of VAR, video assistant referees.
Among other things, the clubs believe that the system deteriorates the audience experience and that the price becomes unreasonably high for the clubs.
Masking and filming bigger problems
Blekingeklubben Mjällby AIF is not among the teams that have signed the petition. But the club’s chairman, Magnus Emeus, believes that the system would not solve the problems the sport is facing.
– We have bigger problems in Swedish football to deal with on the field today than finding a centimeter here or there when it comes to offside. For example masking or filming, he says.
At the same time, he believes that VAR in a slightly different design can be positive for the sport.
– I can imagine a variant where the focus is on the most important thing: whether the ball is inside or outside the field, or over the goal line.