A controversial debate throughout elite football is the extent of VAR’s impact on the sport, but not having it at all in lower leagues is also having negative effects.
Last year, Oxford City made club history with their promotion to the Vanarama National League, but their recent 2-1 loss on the road to AFC Fylde on the 23rd of March confirmed their relegation less than a year on.
This came as they travelled back to Oxford pointless, despite scoring the first goal in the fixture, leaving them 16 points away from safety with 5 fixtures left to play.
After the game, Ross Jenkins said poor refereeing was “the story of the season” for his side, with the second goal City conceded coming from a free kick that “was never a foul”.
He described this decision as one that “deflates” his team, who needed to earn at least a point to keep the dream of playing in the National League next season alive.
In his post-match interview, Jenkins made it clear that he feels the standard of decisions made this season for his side have been poor, and it begs the question of how different the season may have looked for the Hoops if some of the officiating decisions were of a higher standard.
“We’ve had a lot of emails saying sorry and that we apologise for that error and this mistake but it’s no good”, stated Jenkins, who depicted that a draw would have been a “fair” result in the hotly contested fixture.
In this case, had City not conceded the free kick, which Nick Haughton placed into the top corner with just 10 minutes to go, then Jenkins’ men may have earned a crucial point in the relegation battle, keeping them in the fight for at least another week.
If such leagues had the ability to review decisions through technology, used in a simple manner to help eradicate obvious on-field mistakes, then it could make a huge difference to how the season plays out, and how the table looks after a matchday.
However, taken to the extent of top-flight football, the introduction of technology may end up in the same controversial territory as VAR today.
With all technological interference, it needs to be used correctly to have a positive effect. With such high-profile technology, correct decisions should be made but there remains an argument to be had over whether this has been achieved.
Not having this issue in leagues lower down the pyramid may be of benefit, but something has to change if mistakes are constant in the game, with manager Ross Jenkins feeling as though poor officiating has defined his season.
Therefore, bringing the controversy of VAR to lower professional leagues may not be the solution, but instead increasing the standard of refereeing across the sport may be of huge benefit, especially in games that hold such high importance in the campaign.