German Bundesliga club calls for VAR exit

FC Augsburg is calling for the abolition of VAR!

In the upcoming first round of the DFB-Pokal, which will take place without the use of the Video Assistant Referee, protest actions against VAR have been announced by many fan groups.

Now, the fans are receiving support from a German Bundesliga club. Michael Gregoritsch's FC Augsburg clearly states its position in an article by "Kicker".

"Football as it should be: without VAR..."

"We can understand the fans' perspective, because we feel similarly on many points," said Managing Director Michael Ströll.

VAR was originally installed to bring more fairness to football. "In practice, however, we often shift the problem from discussing the referee's decision to discussing the video referee. We have seen in recent years that VAR often creates new discussions instead of solving old ones," the statement continues.

From the fans, it is stated: "In the first cup round now starting, we see football as it should be: without VAR and thus authentic, immediate, and full of emotions. We want to permanently return to this state and therefore demand the abolition of the Video Assistant Referee in German football."

"Emotions are lost"

A key aspect for Augsburg: "Emotions are lost, which significantly damages the fundamental idea of this wonderful game. For us, this is not proportional to the debatable added value."

He warns: "In Germany, we stand for fan culture, atmosphere in the stands, and emotions in the stadiums. This gives us a clear competitive advantage over other leagues. We should protect these aspects and not frantically cling to something just for the sake of clinging to it."

Ströll states that the basic idea behind VAR was not bad, but its implementation has been failing for nine years now.