Roberto Rosetti, UEFA’s chief refereeing officer, has acknowledged widespread frustration with the way VAR is affecting football, as lead referee officers from England, Spain, Germany, France and Italy gathered to try to establish a more uniform approach to decisions.
“We realise that everywhere now there is not any satisfaction about how VAR is impacting football,” Rosetti said. “So we want to avoid microscopic situations. The context is super important. It’s football, not PlayStation. We need to be very, very careful. The referee must referee the match.” Rosetti, a former referee who officiated the Euro 2008 final, met with the national officials alongside David Elleray, IFAB’s technical director.
Handball remains a particular sticking point. The Premier League operated with the most relaxed interpretation last season, recording a handball penalty every 17.27 games. The Bundesliga followed at one every 10.93 games, La Liga at 10.56, Serie A at 10.00 and Ligue 1 at 9.27. The Champions League had the highest frequency of all, with a penalty every seven games — a figure Rosetti acknowledged highlights just how difficult achieving a consensus across competitions has become.
To address the confusion, UEFA has uploaded video examples of handball situations to its Clear Line platform, aiming to clarify what constitutes an offence. “The idea is to be more consistent in the application of the laws,” Rosetti said. “The perception about handball in England is different. Football is not perfect, and sometimes we will continue to have similar situations interpreted in different ways. But at least we are working together.”
Rosetti conceded that pursuing a fully consistent approach across leagues — each of which tends to apply its own interpretation of certain offences — would not be straightforward. With VAR application also varying significantly between the Champions League and the Premier League, the scale of the challenge facing European football’s refereeing authorities is clear.
Image credit: BBC Sport / BBC Sport
