Which yanks would those be? Last time I checked Football is run and controlled by non-American entities. While there are certainly undesirable elements of American sports that have been so rudely interjected into Football, none of it has been sold to the public or force fed by Americans. VAR is a product of the current FIFA President. It was he and his people who designed it, who decided that an American style instant replay system, which is more like NCAA (NFL Jr) than NFL's challenge system, but the announcements now mirror NFL style referee announcements. And Football is looking more and more like NFL or NCAA Football and that is a huge problem that I agree with you about.
What is is troubling about all this is that your reaction is perfectly normal in that, you don't like seeing Football "Americanized" and VAR gives that impression. But it's so very important to keep in mind that it isn't actual Yanks who have done this to Football. In fact Yanks are very much on the sidelines when it comes to Football rules and such. How it works typically is that FIFA sets the rules and the Premier League (historically, not so much since VAR) created the standard in which the American leagues (and other world leagues) adopt because Premier League is considered the most prestigious league in the world. This also applies to La Liga, Serie A and other European leagues as opposed to the American leagues who historically go along with whatever is happening in England Football or FIFA.
In America, Football (Soccer) are not the standard-makers and therefore can't be blamed for what is going on with Football. And keep in mind, that even NFL / NCAA Video Replay shouldn't even be considered an American standard, in fact, Video Replay even in more conducive American sports, should not be seen as some essential or pillar of how American sports work. In my view, it's quite the opposite. Video replay has destroyed many American sports and turned them into a parody. Video replay (in any sport) is a relatively recent invention and what they did to American sports (with video replay in NFL/NCAA and other sports) has not exactly been well received.
I just think it's important, as someone who's also followed American sports over many decades, I've seen how their sports have changed due to the video replay and it hasn't been good. So while it is important to note that VAR is so uniquely poorly suited for Football, it's not as if the replay in the NFL / NCAA or other American sports is warmly received either. In fact it's video replay has been controversial especially in NCAA Football. The point is to stress at how insidious this whole deal is, from what it's done to Football, to the somewhat separate issue of what video replay generally has done to American sports as well, and how it shouldn't be framed like the Yanks have done this to football. They actually haven't. FIFA and British Football bodies have done this to football.
It sure seems like the Americans have their DNA on VAR though, especially with Trump now buddy buddy with the FIFA Prez and with the WC coming up in America. But that's very separate to how we got here with VAR. The Yanks didn't do this to football. The leadership in our backyard did this to football, by thinking (foolishly) that the largely failed American video replay replay in their sports could or should be adopted to football. I don't even understand how anyone could watch NFL or NCAA Football and think that either of those systems would be good for football. That decision-making might make sense if it was working smoothly in America. It hasn't. Remember the NFL sacked its first try at repaly which was similar to VAR. This can't be stressed enough.
The Yanks had no say in any of this happening to football, or when a similar thing happened to NFL / NCAA. This video replay experiment has been a problem for American sports for a lot longer than it's been a problem for Football, because it's existed longer in those sports than VAR. But lets not frame this as if has been embraced to any degree in America or accepted as good or necessary in any of their sports. Maybe in tennis the challenge system works smooth, but in Football, in American NFL/NCAA, and when you consider that it's introduction has caused all kinds of crazy rule changes that have turned sports into a parody of itself, which I do not stand for. That's why I am taking a stand here. Enough is enough I've seen what's been done to American sports, that was bad enough but what VAR has done to Football is frankly on another level and i won't stand for it. American sports like NFL or NCAA are pretty much a lost cause at this point but Football can still be turned back if the will is there.
The situation is really a strain on many sports and I'm trying to assist and provide some clarity. Your reaction is very appropriate but the people who have pushed video replay, whether it's in American sports, whether it's in Football, is in my view, completely unjustifiable at its core. On either side of the pond, the consensus seems to me that most average people dislike video reviews, whether it's NFL/NCAA or Football.
I know from watching American sports like NFL or NCAA Football that video reviews are very controversial and dysfunctional. It's much worse in NCAA because it works like VAR rather than a challenge system. What they decide to review, when, is completely random and it is absolute corrupt in those sports as well, as it lets them rig it by deciding what to review and what subjective logic to apply on any situation. I would argue it's actually easier to rig an NCAA Football game in America through their replay than VAR, and that's saying a lot, because we know how prevalent this sentiment is in Football with VAR. That just gives you a sense of what we're dealing with on both sides of the pond. Video review in general has negatively changed many aspects of sports in general and how they are played. We are seeing the same kind of thing now with VAR in football and in many ways it's even worse because it's more disruptive in Football. But however you feel about it, it's hugely important to remember that it's not actually the Yanks that did this to Football. And the Yanks (well most of them anyway) didn't do to their own sports either what their ivory tower people did to their sports. The difference between what happens in American sports though vs what happened with Football is in America, it's specific to their country and their sports. What FIFA has done with VAR has taken that approach and done it to the whole world. And giving the impression that it was a Yank idea shifts the blame away from where it needs to be (the FIFA President). Don't get me wrong, there's plenty to blame the Yanks for but we do need to take responsibility for what our own National Football Authorities have allowed. They've embraced VAR they continue to push it and think it's here to stay. That's not the Yanks in control of that. In fact, when it comes to Football, we all know that the Yanks are generally the "Followers". But the standards set in their own sports clearly laid the groundwork for what this numpty did to Football with VAR.
And it's this dynamic that is so powerful and clear to see at this point, to understand that this isn't a which side of the pond are you on issue, this is about the common man, the people seeing their joy reduced by people who shouldn't have the power to do what they've done to a sport that is not theirs. It's ours, as in the fans. And they've robbed us of its essence for a foolish agenda that they are too invested in to reverse course. To solve this VAR problem, I'm fair it'll take more thank blaming the Yanks for this. VAR is not their baby. They only started using after FIFA forced it down their throats like tehy did everybody else. And now we gotta do is turn the head when that spoon comes again. And spit it out because the VAR taste is foul and we need football to return to normal. The delusional ivory tower ones who had crazy ideas about how they might use technology in sports or how they might change sports, thinking that it's what people would want when in reality no one asked for any of this. Not in America, not in Britain, not anywhere. Not like this at least. As someone who has followed American NFL/NCAA over the decades, I have seen how these sports have changed for the worse. It is very related to what video systems did to those sports, and an even worse application of this is seen in Football with VAR which is why it's so painful to see this damage to both American sports and to Football. Both American sports and Football have been attacked by the same agenda, the need to want to play God and control decisions during games, to pause the game when they want. This whole concept is fundamentally flawed and the failures were easily predictable.
And I don't care how well intentioned they are. With the disastrous results that VAR and video review in other sports have caused, there are no participation trophies when it comes to officiating. Whether it's across the pond or in the Premier League, there is no excuse for what has been done to any sports which have altered its nature and with VAR it's been done by people running Football, not across the pond but unfortunately right in our backyard. It might feel good to blame the Yanks for VAR destroying football, but in reality the ones responsible for doing this are in our own backyard. But as I said many times, it wasn't the Premier League's idea. They resisted for a while, they voted against VAR in early 2018. But they eventually gave in to the fraud. It is FIFA and FIFA alone who deserve blame first for sacking Sepp and replacing him with this guy and then letting him force feed VAR around the world like he has.
