(CNN)The English Premier League season is only six games old and already the constant debate surrounding VAR has become almost as customary as a pre-match pint and halftime pie.
After a weekend in which Manchester City hit eight, Liverpool won its sixth consecutive game to maintain its perfect record and Manchester United fell even further behind its rivals, it is instead VAR — or video assistant referee — that is occupying center stage.
Social media was in meltdown following a number of controversial decisions, dispelling the notion that VAR would consign post-match arguments to history.
It could take fans up to 10 years to understand how VAR works, according to Lukas Brud, secretary of IFAB, the International Football Association Body, which is responsible for the laws of the game.
But should Brud’s prediction be proved correct then the next decade could prove rather painful for football fans?
Take Saturday’s game between Leicester and Tottenham where Spurs star Son Heung-min was adjudged to have been offside in the lead up to his side’s second goal.
The ruling, which came after a lengthy two-minute review, showed Son to be millimeters offside.
While sports such as cricket and rugby have managed to use video technology without too much controversy in recent years, the Premier League appears to be having teething problems in these early stages.
Gary Lineker, a former Leicester, Tottenham and England star turned presenter, tweeted that VAR “could and should benefit the game but at present, it’s sucking the life out of it.”
Tottenham’s pain was compounded by conceding an equalizer and then seeing James Maddison lash home an 85th-minute winner for Leicester. Read More
