Europe’s five major leagues have been called to a meeting with UEFA this summer to address growing concerns over the inconsistent and over-interventionist use of VAR technology across the continent.
The summit, which will bring together referee chiefs from the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, the Bundesliga and Ligue 1, has been convened by Roberto Rosetti, the head of UEFA’s referees, following his public warning last month that the game must not “go in this direction of microscopic VAR interventions.”
Rosetti suggested that the technology has drifted from its original purpose. “I believe that we forgot the reason why VAR was introduced,” he said.
“In objective decisions, it is fantastic. For interpretations, subjective evaluation is more difficult. That’s why we started to speak about clear and obvious mistakes, clear evidence.”
The figures paint a striking picture of how differently VAR is being applied across the continent. The Premier League has the lowest intervention rate this season at 0.275 per game, though that has not shielded it from controversy.
The Bundesliga and La Liga follow at 0.38 interventions per game, with Serie A at 0.44 and Ligue 1 at 0.47. In the Champions League, the rate sits at 0.45 per game.
Rosetti’s ambition extends beyond simply reducing the number of interventions. He wants all leagues to speak “only one technical language”, with particular concern over the inconsistent application of handball laws, which have been a source of widespread frustration among players, managers and supporters alike.
It is hoped the summer meeting could produce a more universal approach to how VAR is applied, bringing the leagues closer in line with one another and, crucially, closer to the principle of only overturning decisions where there is clear and obvious error.
