Soccer-Over 75% of fans do not support VAR in Premier League, says FSA survey

More than 75% of Premier ​League fans do not ​support the continued ‌use of ​Video Assistant Referees (VAR), a Football Supporters’ Association (FSA) survey showed. The survey was conducted online ‌between February 26 and March 23 and saw almost 8,000 fans of top-flight clubs participate, the FSA said.

The results showed that ‌75.7% did not support the use of VAR in ‌football, with 91.7% saying VAR had removed the spontaneous joy of goal celebrations. “These findings back up the FSA’s previous survey in 2021, where fans ⁠expressed ​misgivings about ⁠the introduction of VAR," FSA’s Premier League network manager Thomas Concannon said.

“We have ⁠shared the survey results with the Premier League and PGMO (Professional Game ​Match Officials Limited), and look forward to discussing its ⁠findings with them.” Reuters has requested comment from the Premier League.

Premier League teams ⁠voted ​in favour of keeping VAR in June 2024 despite a considerable amount of criticism about the technology-aided officiating ⁠system. "While VAR produces more accurate decision making, it was agreed that ⁠improvements should ⁠be made for the benefit of the game and supporters," the league said in a statement ‌at ‌the time.