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The Premier League has been warned that fans will turn away in their droves unless changes are made to VAR.
It took centre stage again this weekend when referee Mike Dean showed a controversial red card to West Ham midfielder Tomas Soucek.
Soucek had accidentally elbowed Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic but upon review of the incident at the pitch side monitor, he was sent off.
It was subsequently rescinded while Dean, and his family, has since been the subject of vile death threats.
Dean also had shown a controversial red card to Southampton defender Jan Bednarek in their 9-0 thrashing by Manchester United, which was also overturned.
VAR seems to be creating more problems than it is solving at the moment and talkSPORT host Alex Crook launched into a scathing rant about its problems and the potential consequences.
Speaking on Sunday night’s Boot Room, Crook said: “You would have thought after that, at the very least, he’d be demoted down to the Championship, which I’m not a fan of because I don’t think it’s fair to teams in the Championship.
“But that is what usually happens when referees make such high profile mistakes.
“Did that happen? No. Instead, he was sent back out there on Saturday and let loose to dish out, for me, the most inexplicable red card since we started using the technology.
“That one is going to have to be overturned as well. It doesn’t look great in slow motion but the last time I checked, football isn’t played in slow motion.
“Anybody who knows anything about the game knows that isn’t a red card in any walk of life.
“I’m not a West Ham fan but I was raging when that red card came out.
“I vented my spleen on Twitter and got another message from the same guy saying he had indeed cancelled his television subscriptions, as he threatened to do.
“He won’t be the only one. We’ve had people on this show, week in week out, ringing up saying VAR has ruined football for them.
“How sad is that? There are going to be people when they are allowed back into stadiums after COVID who will refuse to go because they are fed up with VAR.
“Football is about great goals and moments of jubilation. VAR for me has killed both of those things.
“Proper football people, these are people who have dedicated their whole lives to the game they love, be it as an armchair fan, a match going supporter, Sunday League player, or kids coach in this instance, they will be turning their back on the Premier League in their droves.
“They would rather watch their local non-league team because there’s no VAR. It’s not the technology, it’s the incompetence of the people who use it and those in charge of how rules are interpreted.
“I mean you, Mike Riley. This is the guy who is supposedly the don of Premier League referees. The guy who promised when the technology was introduced it would be minimum interference for maximum benefit.
“He hasn’t honoured those pledges, not even close. Until he gets his house in order and makes good this frankly shambolic situation, more and more fans will be lost to the game we love.
“And as Matt Busby once said, and if 2020 taught us anything, football is nothing without the fans.
“Sort it out, Mike Riley, before it’s too late.”
Former Liverpool, Charlton and Tottenham midfielder Danny Murphy called for VAR to be scrapped as it was robbing players and fans of some of the best moments in the game.
“I can tell you that anyone who doesn’t get this hasn’t watched football or been to match as a kid with a dad,” he told White and Jordan on talkSPORT.
“That moment when the first time I was on the Kop and Liverpool scored and your dad gives you a hug and those people grab you.
“As a footballer player, some of the best moments in my life, some of the most amazing feelings I have ever experienced came from scoring magical goals in big moments.
“You can always find something to go against this. I just think those two magical things, especially if you’ve played the game, and if you watch it, I think we’ve lost them.
“I would be happy, as would many, many people I’ve spoken to who are still playing the game, for it to be gone.”
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