Gary Lineker outlines radical proposal to fix VAR that would ‘add to the drama’ as he says ‘I would vote for that’
GARY LINEKER has suggested a radical idea in order to fix VAR.
Premier League clubs are set to vote on the future of the system following a complaint from Wolves.
Lineker, 63, believes he has the solution to fix the video assistant referee system.
The former England striker thinks that an appeal system would help “add to the drama” in football.
Speaking on the Rest is Football podcast, Lineker said: “The only way out of this mess, and I think they should keep offside and goal-line technology.
“But I think you either scrap the rest of it or, more realistically, you take it to an appeal system.
“You limit the amount of times that VAR can intervene. It can not intervene unless someone appeals.
“It has to be the captain and they have got to tell you what they are appealing for.
“It does not mean there is a goal and you have got to find some kind of foul somewhere.
“They have to stipulate what the foul is, the captain does it, and if it is a foul then it is a foul, there is no bar.
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“It is the decision that the VAR and the referee come to.
“Maybe one appeal a half, but it stops VAR coming into every possible corner that comes in.
“It stops all those things.
“You can have 20 seconds to do the appeal and it would add to the drama.
“You can get it on the screens and all that kind of stuff.
“It won’t be where every single goal is looked at.”
Lineker has a different view to the likes of Harry Maguire.
The Manchester United defender wants the system to be scrapped for penalties and red cards.
Wayne Rooney agrees with Maguire as he wants to see VAR “gone”.
VAR: The great debate
Martin Lipton’s pro VAR view
FAST forward 12 months to May 18, 2025.
After 89 minutes at Molineux, Wolves, needing to win their last game of the season to stay up, are beating Manchester United, who require a point for Champions League football.
A ball over the top sends Rasmus Hojlund racing away. The flag stays down. Hojlund scores. Wolves are relegated.
And on the way home, the dejected Wolves fans see the still image on their phones.
Hojlund was 2ft offside. No question. A shocker.
It means at least a year in the Championship, £100million income drop, a firesale of the squad. While United bank an extra £50m.
But it’s OK. Every one of those fans, plus smiling boss Gary O’Neil and the Wolves board, will line up to say: “No worries. It’s what we voted for. Rough with the smooth.”
Yes. And I’ve got a bridge to Ireland to sell you.
Dan King’s anti VAR view
THREE cheers and a hearty slap on the back for Wolves chairman Jeff Shi.
For mentioning the unmentionable, for speaking commonsense to deaf ears, for proposing that VAR should be scrapped.
Shi is doomed to failure. His suggestion is unlikely to even go to a vote at next month’s Premier League AGM.
And if it does get that far, it has a cat in hell’s chance of receiving the two-thirds majority required to carry such a radical proposal.
But in one statement on Wednesday, Shi proved that he will be the brightest man in that meeting room.
He claimed VAR ‘has led to numerous unintended negative consequences that are damaging the relationship between fans and football, and undermining the value of the Premier League brand’.
And he is absolutely spot on.
The argument against VAR is wide-ranging and yet completely basic.
If you believe that football is a sport, to be enjoyed in all its spontaneous, high-tempo glory, then you are against VAR.
If you believe that football is a business, that it is far more important than a mere game, that forensic evidence must be applied, that we must reach the closest point to ultimate justice at all costs — and if you also believe that match-going supporters are irrelevant — then you are in favour of VAR.