VAR, i.e. video assistant referee, will also be introduced in Finland, announced Football Association.
It’s a two-year pilot. In the 2024 season, the VAR system will be used in 10–15 matches in Finland.
VAR has been in use for a long time in “Lilliputian” countries such as Albania and Kosovo, but lack of money has been considered an obstacle in Finland.
The system has been demanded in Finland for a long time as well, because the game with VAR is different than without, and the lack of VAR has affected the opportunities of Finnish referees on international fields.
Strong advocates of VAR have included, for example, a referee in the Champions League, who currently works at the Finnish Football Association Matthias Gestranius. In the fall of 2022, he estimates the price of VAR at 1,500–2,500 euros per game in Urheilulehti.
– If Finnish football respects itself, VAR must be introduced in Finland, Gestranius thundered.
At the same time, VAR’s backlash has also been strong, as VAR, among other things, causes long game interruptions and affects the viewing experience. The problems with VAR have been particularly bad in the Premier League.
Read also: Comment: Everyone laughs at the Premier League!
“Someone is watching”
The VAR news was recently discussed in Urheilu’s 11 friends podcast, where the reporter Jussi Vainikan the Huuhkajat legend was a guest Paulus Arajuuri as well as being voted the best referee in the Veikkausliiga numerous times Mohammad Al-Emara.
Referring to the aforementioned contradictions, one of the listener questions that came to the podcast read: “VAR, threat or opportunity?”.
It made Arajuur laugh.
– A very good question. Rarely has such a thing aroused so much discussion and opinion.
Arajuuri, who is known as a Romulus topper, considers the change interesting for the players. When Arajuuri played with VAR for the first time, he had a “guilty feeling” all the time.
– It’s a bit like being in Big Brother somewhere, that someone is watching all the time. In the past, it was okay if you knew how to play a little wrong, but so that the referee couldn’t see. That’s when you knew immediately after the situation that you got away with it.
Al-Emara admitted that the news is of great importance to Finnish referees.
– But above all, it is important for the game. It changes the mentality of the players. Kind of like a speed camera on the highway. Even if the camera doesn’t work, it guides what to do.
– I’m a referee, but above all I’m a football fan, so I understand very well that it affects the viewing experience and the feeling in some way when goals are aired for no reason and so on. I understand these aspects. But the world changes, and we have to change with it sometimes.
As far as the players are concerned, Al-Emara considers VAR’s greatest importance to be the psychological side.
– If I compare the Veikkausliiga and series with VAR, the players take more risks in the Veikkausliiga at the borders of the rules.
For example, the CEO of HJK Aki Riihilahti talked about exactly this when he lamented that opponents who are used to the VAR system at home know how to make better use of it. HJK has experienced several bitter VAR moments in recent seasons’ European games.
Both Arajuuri and Al-Emara emphasize that playing with VAR requires learning.
However, Arajuuri does not think that he would have been a different player if VAR had been introduced earlier, because it is a matter of detail.
– But if you want to be successful in international games… Others play with VAR every week, so others are used to it, have been able to make the necessary mistakes in their game that work better with VAR, Arajuuri reflected.
– And the rhythm of the match changes. There will be situations that cannot be seen from the outside. There will be delays, for example, when the referee says: “Don’t give the goal kick yet, we’ll check again just to be sure”. It can be, say, five seconds more, and it changes the rhythm, Al-Emara continues.
A harsh moment in St. Petersburg
Arajuure also thinks that the psychological effect of VAR is very significant.
– There are situations where you get to ventilate the paint. You’re tearing up, the fans are celebrating, the stadium is boiling. That feeling of happiness, it feels so real. Then a minute later it can be taken away.
VAR has brought more emotional roller coaster to football. It belongs to the strong who know how to handle their emotions during the match.
– I have been able to experience that there is enormous joy and euphoria. Then when it’s taken away, it’s like taking a lollipop away from a child. It kind of turns against you. It becomes a negative thing. And on the other hand, if the guy scores, the world collapses for a moment. Then comes VAR, and you get your life back.
It was easy to guess what situation Arajuuri was talking about above.
In the summer 2021 European Championships Joel Pohjanpalo headed Finland to a 1–0 lead against Russia, but the goal was disallowed for offside after a VAR review.
– A fantastic start to the game. A great goal. It didn’t even occur to me that it could be offside.
Parachute for the judge
In Finland, the VAR system is used in a pilot period from a VAR car that is parked outside each stadium, with a video referee, an assistant video referee and an operator who controls the picture.
So there is no light version of VAR coming to Finland, like in Estonia, when the video referees operate the image themselves.
Palloliitto plans to have a VAR center in Finland in 2026. In this case, VAR operations for all matches would be operated from the same center. For example, the ice hockey championship league introduced such a situation room in 2018.
Al-Emara says that the instructions are clear for the referees judging on the field, even though VAR is helpful.
– The operation should not change at all. You make your own dune. I’ve been thinking that VAR is like a parachute. Then when needed, I use it to land. There is no judge who sees everything.
If VAR calms down the players’ actions, it has a psychological meaning for the referees as well. It brings security.
– I have not come across a more self-critical group than the referees. If the teams and the public remember our mistakes for a week, we remember for a year. When you correct mistakes immediately, they don’t stick in the back of your mind.
When the video referees call the on-field referee to confirm something on the video screen, the verdict practically always changes. This is because the video referees only intervene when the referee has made a clear error.
– If the video referee asks for a screen, it’s not a gray area situation, it’s black and white. One good tip is that when you go to the VAR screen, you forget everything you’ve seen live and look at the situation with new eyes.
The communication between the referees is sometimes quite hard to listen to, the top referee admits.
– It’s weird when you think during the game that I communicate really calmly and we have a great connection, but when you listen to yourself afterwards, those situations are hysterical.
Arajuuri asked Al-Emara how annoying it is when the players keep rushing to beg to “look at the VAR”, although of course the video referees go through all questionable situations. The studio joked that it must be “really heavy”.
– This goes into the same category, which has become more common, that pressure is applied, the referee is surrounded, chaos is created. It’s annoying…, Al-Emara smiled.
– Maybe not so annoying at the beginning of the match, but at the end of the match, when fatigue hits. Then the gang surrounds you, even though you’ve seen the situation for sure.
VAR is already familiar in the majority of European countries. Even in Finland, it is no longer just a dream.
– Some countries have been involved longer, they have more experience. In the big picture, this is still a new thing. It is developing all the time and will hopefully become more efficient. And that there would be no need to call offsides for 4–5 minutes, but that there would be an automatic system, Al-Emara hopes.
VAR is also entering Finnish football. How does it affect the referees’ work and the game? Will technology destroy traditional football, or is it, on the contrary, its savior? Listen to 11 friends below or at Areena.