Referees Don't Have A VAR Dependency Problem, Their Job Is Just Too Secure.

Newcastle manager Eddie Howe stated this week that he thinks referees have become over-reliant on VAR after Chris Kavanagh’s woeful performance in an FA Cup tie involving his side, Newcastle, against Aston Villa at Villa Park.

“I think there’s an argument to say that, because when VAR is there, there’s always a, ‘Well, I won’t give that, but let’s check it.'”

The truth is VAR still remains a brilliant innovation that has helped the improve fairness in football generally, but referees, on the other hand, are overprotected and underscrutinized in the top leagues around Europe, especially in football.

Football is a result-based business. If a manager cannot win matches as ecpected, he will be sacked. The same thing goes for players. Some players do not even get a second chance to prove their worth or make up for errors — that’s how cut-throat football is nowadays.

Almost everyone at every level of elite football knows that making errors might cause them to lose their jobs, except referees.

Nowadays, referees receive too much protection because not enough younger officials are coming through. The higher you go as a referee in the Premier League, the more season-defining errors you can get away with.

This trend will continue until the FA and UEFA make real efforts to open up the process of becoming a referee in England and in Europe.

Everyone who watches football knows how to become a footballer. Most fans understand what makes a great coach and how most managers become great coaches.

However, not a lot of football fans know much about how to become a referee, how much they earn, how stable that career path is, and the challenges referees face before they become professionals.

This knowledge will help people develop more interest in becoming match officials. That can only mean more top referees in England. A flurry of top referees in the country, will create healthy competition among referees in the Premier League, which will help them retain their sharpness and avoid more mistakes and errors.

The process of developing officials should be more open now more than ever. So that young, smart, and energetic people can get involved in order to improve the standard of the referees who make important decisions that can make or mar the season of football clubs in a league as big and rich as the English Premier League.