VAR in the RPL was conceived as a technology that would remove scandals.It turned out slightly differently: now the scandal simply happens in HD, with a pause, the referee's dramatic walk to the monitor and a collective feeling that nobody understood anything anyway.
An error used to be simple: the referee blew the whistle, everyone shouted.Now an error has become a whole ceremony.
First the referee signals that he has everything under control. Then he gets a message in his ear. Then he makes the face of a man who's just had a call from the bank about a missed payment. Then he walks to the screen. At that moment the stadium turns into a waiting room: everyone understands there will be a decision, but nobody knows when, what, or why.
The funniest thing is that VAR is supposed to provide clarity.But in the RPL it often works like a licensed fortune-teller: they watched the replay, conferred, found "contact", "the attacking phase", "a natural position of the arm" and three more words after which the ordinary fan is completely lost.
VAR's main talent is turning an obvious moment into a legal drama series.
Was it a penalty?A minute ago it seemed: yes. After three replays: possibly. After the expert's explanation: depends on the interpretation. After the match: "well, in the spirit of the game, of course, it wasn't a penalty".A day later the refereeing department will say the decision was correct, but a different one could also have been made. So everything's fine, but nobody feels any better =)
VAR in the RPL didn't abolish the old Russian football question "what for?"It just added a second one: "and why exactly like that?"
It looks especially beautiful when, after five minutes of viewing, the referee comes back and gives the very same decision he made in the first place. That's where the technology reveals itself fully: we didn't just get it wrong - we checked, discussed, agreed and got it wrong with confidence.
What we've ended up with is a little provincial theatre on the theme of "reality can't be trusted, especially when it's in our favour".
Players clutch their heads. Coaches pretend to stay calm, while inside they're already justifying the defeat at the press conference. The commentator says: "Let's wait for the referee's decision" - and it sounds like "Let's accept the inevitable".
And then the referee makes the rectangle gesture.The scariest rectangle after a utility bill.
And the match ends. Or rather, its football part ends. Then comes the post-mortem: freeze-frames, expert analysis, witnesses, three broadcasts, 40-minute Telegram breakdowns in which the same frame confidently proves both versions and a third one nobody asked about.
VAR in the RPL is not a technology of justice. It's a technology for prolonging suffering. The fan used to suffer instantly. Now he has time to suffer for longer.
