The replacement of humans in training professional athletes or umpires and referees in professional sports events with Artificial Intelligence (AI) is on the rise in contemporary times. Moreover, especially with the COVID-19 pandemic, possibly every household on the planet would have had to use some technology in one way or the other to carry out... Continue Reading →
Do football fans like VAR?
Digital transformation has impacted football not only via platforms, but also on-pitch with the introduction of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR). A study analysing over 300,000 comments left on FIFA's official YouTube videos revealed that about 60% of fans disliked VAR. Fans typically associated VAR with three negative aspects: favouring bigger nations, non-neutrality of technology, and destruction of traditional football. They perceived VAR as another tool used in modern football's commercialisation and mediatisation.
Media and Digital Transformation in Sport 