Real Madrid: Clubs shouldn’t complain about VAR publicly

This season, even more than before, we are seeing clubs argue about the use of Video Assistant Refereeing (VAR) in football for all sorts of reasons. The increase in complaints could be due to the English Premier League using it for the first time this year but that does not change the fact that clubs are walking a very thin line when voicing their complaints about the technology in public.

Social media is a beautiful way for football clubs to connect with their fans and a very convenient way to ensure that everyone is up to date with the latest developments. Just like with anything, when something is made public it can either be used negatively or positively.

If recent trends are anything to go by, then we’re bound to see many posts from the official club handles trying to prove that VAR is not doing the job correctly.

VAR was brought into football to eliminate the discussion of whether or not a team deserved a penalty or a suspension. However, it seems as though that isn’t the case as of now. Teams are still finding problems with the consistency of the technology since even though VAR is used, the decisions are ultimately made by human referees.

The technology is far from perfect and has been wrong on occasion, but why do the clubs feel the need to go on social media in order to make their points?

To be clear, this is not me saying that even if VAR is proven wrong, the clubs should stay silent and move on. They have the right to complain and make their voices heard but going out on social media brings down the image of a club.

Even if it isn’t the intention, it shows pettiness and adds more controversy to the matter. Most importantly though, it makes no difference at all. The difference will be made if the club formally sends a letter to the governing body of the competition with their concerns and proof so they can work together on improving the technology or even finding answers to why exactly something didn’t go their way.

If they want the public to know anything, they can simply send out a message saying that they have formally communicated with the people in charge to find a solution. One thing is for sure: The game won’t be replayed and therefore, there is no need to dwell on it anymore. However, making your voices heard will hopefully fix the problem in the future.

Obviously, Real Madrid is not the only team to do this but that isn’t an excuse. Real Madrid pride themselves at being the biggest name in the footballing world but that comes with a cost. They need to be part of the teams that lead the others.

In Spain, other clubs such as Celta Vigo have done it recently while we see it consistently in the Premier League with Manchester City and other clubs. They’re not wrong for wanting to voice their concerns, but they are wrong with how they are doing so.

The only thing that public complaining does is opens doors for the fans to continue on their complaints as they see the fact that the team is voicing it as an invitation for them to do so as well. The amount of people voicing their opinions isn’t the solution, the solution is to voice your opinions to the people that have the power to make a difference in the future.

It is also worth noting that VAR has helped Real before, most recently when Paris Saint-Germain was awarded a penalty and Thibaut Courtois was suspended before VAR ruled out all of it, which helped Los Merengues stay in the game.

There should be certain protocol that is followed for complaints and the clubs need to be ensured that any and every complaint sent by them is studied thoroughly. People make mistakes and as long as there is some type of human aspect in football, there will be mistakes.

The introduction of VAR was supposed to eliminate the chance of error but that hasn’t happened and we will definitely be seeing more instances where teams are either favored or not due to VAR, but complaining on social media does a lot more harm than good for all teams involved.

Personally, I was never on board with the introduction of VAR as I believe that human error actually adds to the game as a whole. Having said that, once it was introduced and approved, I expected that we would not be seeing these mistakes anymore since that’s how it was initially advertised.

Unfortunately, we have seen many problems with VAR and we will undoubtedly see a lot more as the season goes on. As clubs direct their complaints to the right people, we will definitely see change. Having clubs post comments and pictures as proof all over Twitter will make zero difference to the future of Video Assistant Refereeing.

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