But high-profile matches have been marred by controversial decisions – and outraged fans have chanted “F*** VAR” in frustration. Blasting the “soulless VAR experiment” was “robbing” fans and players of the joy of celebrating goals, Mr Perkins told MPs. “There is no other moment in any other sport so special as the moment in football in which a goal is scored. “It's perhaps for that reason that so many fans are chanting, 'It's not football anymore' in the stands,” he said. Shadow Culture Secretary Tracy Brabin claimed VAR was a “scourge”, harming “those iconic moments in football when the ball ripples to the back of the net, terraces erupt”.

Source: Daily Mirror March 17, 2020 15:59 UTC