Explained: Why football clubs in Norway have decided to vote against use of VAR

A majority of the football clubs in Norway have decided to vote against the implementation of Video Assistant Referees (VAR) in the Eliteserien, the country’s top-flight league. A total of 19 out of 32 clubs in Norway across the first and second tier of the domestic football system have voted in favour of doing away with VAR, and according to a report in ESPN, the Norwegian Football Federation (NFF) will take a final decision on the issue in March. However, the report adds that the NFF could still overrule the vote.

“We see that the technology has potential but through today’s discussion and subsequent vote we see that a majority of our clubs believe that the current version of VAR does not work well enough,” said Cato Haug, chairman of Norsk Toppfotball, an organisation representing the country’s 32 clubs across the top two divisions.

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Why have clubs in Norway voted to scrap VAR?

Like it happens elsewhere in the world, the use of VAR in football has been debated in Norway and ever since the system was introduced to the country in 2023, fans have strongly opposed the use of it. There have been several fixtures in Norway which have been interrupted due to fan violence.

Earlier in the 2024-25 season, a top-flight match between Rosenberg and Lillestrøm was called off after spectators threw fish cakes onto the pitch in their protest against VAR. The referee had to stop the match and asked players to head back to the dressing rooms. The match restarted soon after, but fans then threw tennis balls and smoke bombs, which then prompted the referee to abandon the match after 30 minutes with a 0-0 scoreline.

There have also been instances of fixtures being interrupted after fans threw champagne corks and croissants onto the pitch. This led to a four-month consultation period that involved clubs, players and supporters’ groups.

VAR was first implemented during a friendly football match between Italy and France in 2016. Two years later, VAR was introduced to the laws of football and made its global debut at the 2018 FIFA World Cup that took place in Russia. VAR continues to be used in several top domestic leagues like the Premier League, Bundesliga and La Liga.