Championship Clubs Reject VAR Variation
Tuesday, 21st Apr 2026 19:31

Championship clubs have rebuffed the opportunity to bring in a variation of VAR from next season.

Referees body the PGMOL gave clubs a presentation of Football Video Support (FVS) at last month’s annual meeting last month.

The EFL subsequently gauged opinion but it was evident there was strong opposition among clubs to any form of video review system.

FVS, which has been trialed for two years, differs from VAR in that a video operator merely gives the referee camera angles on a monitor by the side of the pitch rather than there being another referee assessing incidents as is the case in the Premier League and elsewhere.

Each manager gets two challenges per match, which are retained if they are successful in the manner of cricket’s DRS.

It was designed for use in divisions where there are fewer cameras and officials.

The decision will please most supporters, who have largely been opposed to VAR since its introduction.

Photo: Reuters

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IpswichT62OldBoy added 20:17 - Apr 21 Good, VAR is ant football , I love goal line tech but otherwise take the rub of the green, accept refs are honest and stuff sorts itself out over a season. No on wants to wait whist idiots can't make a decision in less than 10 seconds. Its obvious or it isn't, so stick with the infield decision.
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Mark added 20:54 - Apr 21 Good. We do not want VAR in the Championship, as we want to celebrate goals and enjoy the moment. That is what football is all about.
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grow_our_own added 21:06 - Apr 21

"Each manager gets two challenges per match" - I like the idea of limited challenges. Too many stoppages with regular VAR. Every goal is assessed at the moment, so you're never really sure a goal has been scored. But it has to be captains, not managers. Will take ages while players are told to challenge by players, managers watch their own replay on the touchline, and then get word back to the ref that they're challenging, then the ref watches their own replay.

The players know whether there's been an injustice because they're right there. No need for them to watch a replay or send messages to and from the bench. Captains will be faster.

grow_our_own added 21:07 - Apr 21 "while managers are told to challenge by players"
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Barty added 21:48 - Apr 21 Good. VAR is the worst thing that has happened in football for years.
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MVBlue added 22:45 - Apr 21 VAR is just more referees backing the same wrong decisions. Gets only 50% right from what I see.
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MVBlue added 22:50 - Apr 21 I present to you, this classic from this season, VAR spotted a spin whereby a defender went in for a challenge while a player did a clever spin and though the unintentional foot placement was a goal preventing foul. Absolute tosh.
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armchaircritic59 added 00:20 - Apr 22 I was a fan of VAR when it first came in. Can't stand the sight of it now. Pompous off field " officials " trawling through every minor detail to see if they can bring the refs attention to something that happened 2 minutes before and then getting the decision wrong anyway! Only problem is of course, the possibility of next season!
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Westy added 06:06 - Apr 22 Good. VAR decisions are usually subjective anyway. Goal line technology has been a positive - instant and irrefutable, but VAR has undoubtedly detracted from the game.
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ITFCson added 08:56 - Apr 22 Not sure why all the above comments reference VAR. The proposal was for a much less variant, think I am in the minority who would of liked to have seen FVS introduced.
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TheMover added 08:58 - Apr 22

Everyone on here saying that they hate VAR, which I agree with 100%. Takes too long etc etc.
But that is not what was put forward. I actually think this system would work better. No off pitch referee, just someone playing back on a monitor for the referee to reassess.
I assume the managers appeals would be made to the 4th official who would notify the ref.
It has been rejected so not going to happen, but I wonder how much better this system may have been if it had been adopted instead of VAR originally.

Cloddyseedbed added 09:56 - Apr 22 Excellent news, ruined premier league and refereeing in general.
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Rimsy added 12:22 - Apr 22 We only ever needed goal line technology, Var has sucked the fun out of the game.
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hyperbrit added 12:41 - Apr 22 rather moan endlessly about bad refs then?
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grow_our_own added 14:18 - Apr 22 Indeed hyperbrit. Championship football is a lottery and corruptible at the moment. So much depends on refs ability, line of vision in the moment, or worse. Limited captain challenges will mean fewer VAR interruptions, and will reduce diving. Divers will think twice about frivolous appeals that will waste their team's precious challenge.
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armchaircritic59 added 17:55 - Apr 22

Goal line technology, automatic offside technology, and most importantly of all ( which is of course why we haven't got it yet! ) official timekeepers at every game that add the time on for every stoppage and time taken for corners, throw ins etc. ( You'll soon find teams will rapidly understand that if they don't want to spend 2 hours on the pitch! ) I'm fine with those thing, as for everything else, bin it!