Christian Pulisic says that games would be better for fans if VAR (video assistant referee) was no longer part of the game. The Pulisic VAR opinion came as a surprise to most fans who consider VAR a positive addition.
Pulisic shared this take on Tim Ream’s podcast “The American Dream.”
Pulisic VAR opinion
Christian Pulisic believes that ⚽️ is better without VAR -- and if it were up to him, he'd completely eliminate it.
— USMNT Only (@usmntonly) October 2, 2023
Christian Pulisic thinks football would be better off without VAR ️ pic.twitter.com/EU3TCsyFWP
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) October 3, 2023
VAR is still relatively new to the beautiful game. The first leagues to use it were Major League Soccer and Australia’s A-League in 2017. Europe’s top leagues introduced video reviews later with Serie A and the Bundesliga being the first in the 2017-18 season.
This means that Pulisic only played two seasons of his senior career without VAR. That was with Borussia Dortmund in the 2015-16 and 2016-17 campaigns.
VAR hasn’t been perfected yet as seen most notably with the massive error in the Premier League last weekend between Liverpool and Tottenham.
Most fans still agree that the game has become fairer with video review. Long gone are moments like Arjen Robben’s flop vs. Mexico in the 2014 World Cup, Thierry Henry’s handball vs. Ireland that eliminated them from World Cup qualifying or the Germany handball that potentially denied the USMNT from a World Cup semifinal in 2002.
Here's how fans reacted to Pulisic’s opinion.
No, it was far worse prior to the VAR.
— Tactical Manager (@ManagerTactical) October 2, 2023
So when a blatant red card challenge goes uncalled by the on-field ref, should we just accept that its human error when VAR 90% of the time would be able to correct it? If a goal is not offside but the linesman calls it off should we accept human error when VAR can fix that?
— Lorenzo Gazzola (@lorenzogazzola) October 2, 2023
Surprising. The game became so much fairer than it was before its introduction. Less controversies, less arguing on the field, less BS. Very surprising.
— Art (@artofutbol) October 2, 2023
So we don’t like getting a call right? Okay
— Ethan Thomas (@Ethan_Thomas17) October 2, 2023
I respect his opinion, but seeing multiple teams get completely screwed in the world cup before VAR to very rarely seeing it now. The game is much better with VAR, muuuch better. The just need to streamline it, make it much quicker.
— Stan (@StanHouston1188) October 2, 2023
Do you agree with Pulisic, or do you prefer to have VAR at the ready to (usually) get the call right?
