SCOTTISH PREMIERSHIP football stars are suffering anxiety due to VAR, a new university study has found.
Video assistant referee technology exists in top flights across the world and in international football but it’s implementation in Scotland has been laced with controversy.
That’s because numerous bad calls continue to be made across the country, with top flight bosses such as Livingston manager David Martindale thinking we would be better going back to the drawing board.
And now a study, conducted by Edinburgh Napier University, has concluded that players themselves are feeling increasingly anxious due to the technology.
Scottish top flight players, including four Scotland internationals, were quizzed on the technology – with some saying they feel they are being SPIED on and it is negative for their mental health.
Stars reported to the study that they’ve been feeling “anxious” and “timid” due to video referees monitoring their every move.
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They’ve reported feeling more “nervous”, “less gallus”, and “unable to express themselves freely“
One player who contributed to the study said: “I remember my first game playing with it and being told by the referee that VAR was watching me.
“I feel like I’m constantly being watched and how close they are watching you. It just plays constantly in the back of your mind.”
Another player said: “When referees are telling you VAR is watching you it can make you feel on edge and you think about VAR when you tackle because some decisions have been very soft and some not given.”
The study, published in the journal Managing Sport And Leisure, interviewed 10 Premiership stars, including four internationals.
The report, conducted by Dr Ian Cunningham and colleagues at Napier, states: “Following VAR interventions, [they] frequently cited experiencing higher levels of mental anxiety and reduced confidence, leading to hesitancy in their decision-making and subsequent actions on the pitch.
“The sense of being constantly watched, by cameras, officials and audiences fosters ‘football ‘docile bodies’, players being ruined who regulate emotional expressions, understand physical engagements, and is spoiling tactical decisions in line with unseen observers and uncertain standards.
“Rather than liberating the game from human error, VAR embeds it more deeply within disciplinary frameworks that reward conformity and punish deviation.
“Players no longer perform solely for team-mates or fans, but for evaluators, institutional authorities and digital witnesses.
“It’s not only in Scotland that VAR is hated. I was in Argentina recently and they despise it there too.
“But short of having a national walk-out by fans, it’s here to stay so – as the players in this study say – we have to find ways to make it work better.”
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