Football in the Eyes of the Fans: What has Changed after VAR?

Nowadays, in the 21st century, technologies are being introduced into all spheres of human activity more and more, and sport is not an exception. In all sports there are many different ITs that serve as powerful assistants in the refereeing process. Technologies in sports have become such an integral part of it that it is impossible to imagine the existence of different disciplines without them. In general, technology is an auxiliary resource. With the help of IT, many sports have changed their rules, become more open and dynamic, more blameless and honest. This study will focus on football. Football is a fairly conservative game, so some technologies have appeared in this sport quite recently. In 2016, the VAR system (Video Assistant Referee) was first introduced in a football match, and from the very first use of this technology it was obvious that it is necessary in modern football, as it greatly changes the game in a better way. VAR is an auxiliary video replay system that the referee needs in order to make the right and honest decision in a certain controversial moment. The main referee can use it in various situations and as many times in one match as it is needed. Over 4 years of existence, this technology has greatly changed football and its history as a whole. Firstly, the game became more accurate and honest on the part of football players, and secondly, different clubs did not have the most pleasant story for them, since VAR corrected some gross errors of the referee several times, with the help of which a certain club could achieve a win in world football championship not honestly and deserved. But on the other hand, football, according to fans and the players themselves, has become more boring since the appearance of the video replay. This conclusion can be drawn due to the fact that a huge amount of debate and discussion began to appear on the Internet whether the VAR system is necessary in modern football. Some people say that this technology has made football more boring due to the many pauses that occur during the use of VAR. Others are simply unsatisfied due to this technology, because their favorite football club, which they support for a long period of time, did not receive a specific trophy, since goals scored or received were recorded only thanks to video replay. The rest of the people on the contrary say that since the advent of VAR, football has become a more objective sport than it used to be before. In general, such a number of disputes over the new technology are explained by the fact that the VAR system is not perfect and requires further improvements and improvements. It is necessary to clarify that the VAR system in Russia, for example, appeared only 2 years ago, but the reaction of Russian fans is not much different from fans from around the world. Thus, the purpose of this study is to understand and get a rough idea of how much the attitude of Russian fans has changed in relation to football since the advent of VAR.