2 in 3 British football fans support the usage of VAR in football
British football fans surveyed would be more likely to support VAR if a time limit were to be introduced to make a decision according to a new Ipsos survey.
- 2 in 3 British football fans (65%) support the usage of VAR in football
- Just over half of football fans (54%) say they’d be more likely to support it if a time limit were to be introduced
- 3 in 4 football fans (74%) think VAR has made football refereeing decisions more accurate – with half of football fans (49%) saying the decisions made in the 2022/23 season specifically have been better than in previous seasons
New polling by Ipsos has found that 2 in 3 football fans (65%) support the use of VAR in football, with 1 in 4 (24%) in opposition.
When asked if imposing a time limit on officials monitoring VAR to reach a decision would impact their support, just over half (54%) said it would make them more likely to support its usage, with 3 in 10 (31%) saying it would make no difference. 14% said a time limit would make them less likely to support its usage.
Three quarters of football fans (74%) think that, in general, VAR has made football refereeing decisions more accurate, with just over a fifth (22%) saying the opposite. Only 4% think there’s been no change. When asked about the 2022/23 season specifically, half of football fans (49%) think the decisions made using VAR have been better than seen in previous seasons. A third (34%) think decisions in the current season have been worse, with 13% saying there’s been no change.
Joshua Hyams-Parish, Research Manager in Media Development at Ipsos, said:
Despite the frustration felt by many football fans when VAR aids a call against their team, it’s encouraging to see that support for the technology far outpaces opposition – with room for support to grow further should football bodies consider imposing a time limit on decisions. Although the 2022/23 season has seen some significant VAR-related controversies, on balance, a majority of fans believe that VAR decisions have been better than in previous seasons, suggesting that the ends may indeed justify the means in driving a fairer and more accurate system within football.
Technical note
Ipsos interviewed a representative quota sample of 1,000 adults aged 18-75 in Great Britain. Interviews took place on the online Omnibus 24th-25th April 2023. Data has been weighted to the known offline population proportions. All polls are subject to a wide range of potential sources of error.
