For many, many years the idea of football as ‘one game’ meant that a World Cup or European Cup final was being played to the same rules as a Sunday morning game on the local rec.
From a technical point of view that is still the same, the new handball laws apply to all levels of the game, but the introduction of VAR has finally ended the notion of every match being played under the same conditions.
Since the weekend’s controversial penalty decisions the difference between the top-level (magnified, perhaps, by the absence of crowds) and the game below is as stark as it has ever been.
That presents an opportunity for many.
I've seen a number of clubs on social media in England promote their upcoming fixtures with the promise of ‘no VAR’ in addition to the other benefits of watching your local team such as the chance to stand on a terrace and/or with a beer in your hand.
It would be nice to think that referees will come in for slightly less abuse in this scenario as we embrace the idea that human error is ok, although in the heat of matches I’m not too sure that will happen.
But in the short-term there is an opportunity for clubs (again, in England only as the return of supporters at any level in Scotland or Wales remains a long way off and even here there are genuine fears about the future for many EFL and National League clubs) to maximise their gate revenue and provide a much-needed focal point for their communities over the course of the next few months.
