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I Can't Stop Thinking About VAR: Forward by Jonathan Wilson
SHORTLISTED IN THE CHARLES TYRWHITT SPORTS BOOK AWARDS 2025
LONGLISTED FOR THE 2025 WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR
Is it football any more?
'Fascinating and persuasive' The Herald
'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 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?
LONGLISTED FOR THE 2025 WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR
Is it football any more?
'Fascinating and persuasive' The Herald
'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 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?
- GenresNonfictionSportsFootball
171 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 7, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
October 5, 2025
I can’t stop thinking about VAR by Daisy Christodoulou, an academic analysis of a never-ending terrace debate.
This is a thought piece that dodges a conclusion. It is less an extended article in When Saturday Comes and more of an academic dissertation. Why else does a short book on VAR end on a debate between academic and populist post-modernism?
Whilst the debates on VAR are deep and well thought out, there is a point where you cannot see the forest for the trees.
She debates for or against VAR close to the point that it is here and there is no going back, even with all its problems.
The theoretical points can end up a long way from the fans waiting for the humans to decide in a studio in West London, and that is the point where it loses the average fan.
The other sports -cricket and tennis – have absorbed technology well, with a few hiccups. But her point that football is different is well argued. VAR will never work as a solution to human refereeing.
The book ends on a vague whimper without a real way forward. She proposes a pause in VAR so that there can be labs to test on tweaks, but I doubt it is any more than window dressing.
Lots of arguments for and against, but the analysis leaves no way back. Maybe because there isn’t, but the book avoids that. Fans do not like wayward refereeing, but they also don’t like the wait for a VAR decision only to find out it's just as controversial but for different reasons, as the author explores in her book – the more you look for accuracy, the harder it gets.
Everyone has a view on VAR. Everyone has problems with it. But no one has a workable solution. I spent last season watching Leeds in the Championship. Occasionally, the crowd would let the referee know when he had clearly lost control of the match. But there is no VAR in the Championship. At the end of the match, we were happier knowing where we stood – sometimes a good referee, sometimes not. But it was always an accepted part of the story. We happily lived without VAR.
I walked away from this book even more against VAR. However much I want it to improve on human error, it is clearly not going to happen. The book explores how VAR could be made more accurate, but accuracy actually takes refereeing away from the spirit of the game. I remember when Pat Bamford pointed where he wanted the ball to go in the penalty, and his arm was judged as offside. It is difficult to know how VAR can make these decisions about where the line is drawn.
This is undoubtedly a never-ending debate on the terraces. VAR’s worst excesses are long delays and human error. The best we can hope for is to minimise the controversies.
This is a thought piece that dodges a conclusion. It is less an extended article in When Saturday Comes and more of an academic dissertation. Why else does a short book on VAR end on a debate between academic and populist post-modernism?
Whilst the debates on VAR are deep and well thought out, there is a point where you cannot see the forest for the trees.
She debates for or against VAR close to the point that it is here and there is no going back, even with all its problems.
The theoretical points can end up a long way from the fans waiting for the humans to decide in a studio in West London, and that is the point where it loses the average fan.
The other sports -cricket and tennis – have absorbed technology well, with a few hiccups. But her point that football is different is well argued. VAR will never work as a solution to human refereeing.
The book ends on a vague whimper without a real way forward. She proposes a pause in VAR so that there can be labs to test on tweaks, but I doubt it is any more than window dressing.
Lots of arguments for and against, but the analysis leaves no way back. Maybe because there isn’t, but the book avoids that. Fans do not like wayward refereeing, but they also don’t like the wait for a VAR decision only to find out it's just as controversial but for different reasons, as the author explores in her book – the more you look for accuracy, the harder it gets.
Everyone has a view on VAR. Everyone has problems with it. But no one has a workable solution. I spent last season watching Leeds in the Championship. Occasionally, the crowd would let the referee know when he had clearly lost control of the match. But there is no VAR in the Championship. At the end of the match, we were happier knowing where we stood – sometimes a good referee, sometimes not. But it was always an accepted part of the story. We happily lived without VAR.
I walked away from this book even more against VAR. However much I want it to improve on human error, it is clearly not going to happen. The book explores how VAR could be made more accurate, but accuracy actually takes refereeing away from the spirit of the game. I remember when Pat Bamford pointed where he wanted the ball to go in the penalty, and his arm was judged as offside. It is difficult to know how VAR can make these decisions about where the line is drawn.
This is undoubtedly a never-ending debate on the terraces. VAR’s worst excesses are long delays and human error. The best we can hope for is to minimise the controversies.
February 23, 2026
A really enjoyable read, tackling the frequently commented upon but rarely forensically examined problems of VAR in football with analytical rigour and, even rarer, suggesting some potential methods for improvement.
Daisy's comments that individuals' views on the need for ever greater detail in the game's laws, decision-making processes and human and non-human intervention might be reflective of philosophical disposition more generally is insightful, as is her assessment that any approach to decision-making in football is unlikely to avoid the trade off between consistency and the (undefined and in any case wholly subjective) "spirt of the game".
A number of references are made to the perception that technological introductions in cricket and tennis have been deemed a success (both within the game and by fans) and rightly notes that this may be partly due to the intrinsic nature of these "non-continuous" games but also because of the agency of players and the lower stakes of individual decisions in games with potentially hundreds of the same to be made over the course of a match.
One thing I think might also be explored further (when comparing football to other professional sports) is the potential impact of the "bad faith" in which football fans now "enjoy" football as a whole and scrutinise perceived refereeing decisions in particular: it seems to me that the toxicity and tribalism of the football ecosystem, combined with a wider world of outrage and conspiracy, in which your club winning (and your rivals losing) is the only thing that matters, may have created a permanently broken belief system in which many otherwise well adjusted humans see bias, cheating and institutional chicanery at every turn (not just with regards to refereeing decisions) and there seems to be little acknowledgement from fans, pundits, players or managers that human error, the intrinsic subjectivity of the laws and the limitations of technology will unavoidably lead to decisions that are capable of "good faith" differences of opinion. Against this background I see little likelihood of any improvement in perceptions through revision of the laws, their implementation or the use (or non-use) of supporting technology.
Daisy's comments that individuals' views on the need for ever greater detail in the game's laws, decision-making processes and human and non-human intervention might be reflective of philosophical disposition more generally is insightful, as is her assessment that any approach to decision-making in football is unlikely to avoid the trade off between consistency and the (undefined and in any case wholly subjective) "spirt of the game".
A number of references are made to the perception that technological introductions in cricket and tennis have been deemed a success (both within the game and by fans) and rightly notes that this may be partly due to the intrinsic nature of these "non-continuous" games but also because of the agency of players and the lower stakes of individual decisions in games with potentially hundreds of the same to be made over the course of a match.
One thing I think might also be explored further (when comparing football to other professional sports) is the potential impact of the "bad faith" in which football fans now "enjoy" football as a whole and scrutinise perceived refereeing decisions in particular: it seems to me that the toxicity and tribalism of the football ecosystem, combined with a wider world of outrage and conspiracy, in which your club winning (and your rivals losing) is the only thing that matters, may have created a permanently broken belief system in which many otherwise well adjusted humans see bias, cheating and institutional chicanery at every turn (not just with regards to refereeing decisions) and there seems to be little acknowledgement from fans, pundits, players or managers that human error, the intrinsic subjectivity of the laws and the limitations of technology will unavoidably lead to decisions that are capable of "good faith" differences of opinion. Against this background I see little likelihood of any improvement in perceptions through revision of the laws, their implementation or the use (or non-use) of supporting technology.
May 26, 2025
I had heard Daisy talk about this book on a podcast before reading so was intrigued, and was then even more impressed by the book itself. The way she compares VAR and refereeing issues to other seemingly unconnected issues and movements is fascinating and has made me thinking of VAR in new ways. She has thought a lot about this and sets it out in a very digestible way, with pragmatic recommendations. I hope she is consulted about these matters in future! Recommended to anyone who finds VAR baffling, as she explains the hows and whys around VAR very well, while offering a very human perspective.
June 1, 2025
A timely book with a vital perspective and some excellent prescriptions for improving modern football. It bathes in the warm light of logic a sport that has withered in the lengthening shadow of rank stupidity.
That said, it feels a mite long for such a short book – possibly its disciplined style could have done with a stricter, shorter delivery, or it could have opted for a looser, more discretionary style entirely. A bit like its appraisal of the state of football's officiating.
That said, it feels a mite long for such a short book – possibly its disciplined style could have done with a stricter, shorter delivery, or it could have opted for a looser, more discretionary style entirely. A bit like its appraisal of the state of football's officiating.
January 17, 2025
Well laid out thoughts on the issues with VAR and how we may be able to improve it. Did almost too good of a job convincing me that it is unfixable, but outside of var I learned a lot about technology in other sports, reasoning and other subjects.
January 20, 2026
This was a bit of a joke present from my mother in law. In actual fact the book is rather good! I enjoyed the read and made me reflect a little on my thoughts on VAR in football. IMO it did not offer me anything new, the compare and contract part were rather good. For me well worth a read.
March 1, 2026
This book reminds me of how I used to write essays in college. Tangent leading to tangent leading to tangent. Not a lot of insight from insiders or flow to the book. It’s a subject that was fun to read for a little, but then the 200 page book dragged on which is a kinda a problem…
February 15, 2026
Very readable and some interesting analogies and arguments but they essentially all add up to “what a mess we’re in with VAR and any changes could create further mess”.
April 3, 2026
A quite serious look at VAR. Quite heavy going in parts.
November 26, 2024
Daisy Christodoulou’s I Can’t Stop Thinking About VAR is such an interesting and fun read about how video-assisted refereeing has changed football. Her insights are spot-on, and she explains things in a way that’s smart but really easy to follow. If you love football and enjoy a fresh perspective, this is definitely a must read.
January 13, 2025
A nice, short polemical piece on the nature of VAR and it's relation to human nature. I admire Christodoulou's contempt for VAR and the desire for utter perfection in an often random, low scoring game such as football.
"Otto Von Bismarck gave the clearest summary of the cynic's critique of transparency when he said there are two things you don't want to see being made: Sausages and Laws"
"Otto Von Bismarck gave the clearest summary of the cynic's critique of transparency when he said there are two things you don't want to see being made: Sausages and Laws"
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews