football case study
973/FCS

Editorials
Members
Commissions
Research
Image Licensing
About



Dispatch: a series dedicated to immersive storytelling, where our photographers and writers journey to chosen places, combining evocative imagery with long-form editorials to uncover and share unique football cultures.



NO
VAR
LAND


Words and Photography by Akis Katsoudas
Football Case Study Dispatch
October 31, 2024

Amid a delayed flight from Budapest to Stockholm, Akis Katsoudas encounters Rasmus—a fervent Malmö supporter who travels from Malta whenever he can to watch his beloved team play. His story is not just about a football match; it's a window into the soul of Swedish football culture, where fans like him passionately oppose the adoption of VAR technology to preserve the game's raw emotion and spontaneity. This dispatch captures the vibrant pre-match gatherings, the electric atmosphere in the stadiums, and the unique power fans wield through their clubs' democratic ownership structures. It's a vivid portrayal of how Swedish supporters strive to keep football true to its roots in an era of rapid technological change.

The flight from Budapest to Stockholm is delayed by over 2 hours. All of us are gathered in front of the gate, waiting for updates from the airline staff. Most people, noticing the rainy night outside, have already put their jackets on. However, there’s one passenger wearing a football shirt, unbothered by the weather.

That passenger is Rasmus. Rasmus, who lives permanently in Malta, boards a plane back to his homeland to watch his beloved Malmö whenever he gets the chance. As he explains, football is more than 50% of his life.

“When I walk towards the stadium, all the bad thoughts from everyday life go away. I step out of reality for 90 minutes. If you listen closely, my voice is still hoarse from all the shouting and chanting. I can’t just sit quietly. I want to actively support the team,” he tells me.

His love for Malmö began when he was just five years old, thanks to his parents, who are also die-hard fans of the club. “My father has a unique last name, and everyone knows him. He once drove 3,500 kilometres just to watch the team play. I think it was a match in Croatia,” he adds and continues:

“My parents bought me my first season ticket in 2012. Since then, I attend every away game unless I’m too far away. I’ve put many commitments aside to be at the stadium. Now, unfortunately, I work in Malta and miss many games. But I always watch Malmö when I come back.”

The very next day after his flight, Malmö are set to face AIK in Stockholm. Even though Malmö are already 10 points ahead in the standings, Rasmus knows it’s going to be a great match. One of the last matches of the season, as the Swedish league, which is celebrating its 100th birthday this year, ends in November before the harsh winter begins and will only get going again in the spring.

The weather in Stockholm is much better than in Budapest, even though the city is just a breath away from the Arctic Circle. The temperature is above 10 degrees Celsius, with forecasts even predicting 20 degrees in the afternoon. The fine weather has encouraged Stockholmers to go outside and enjoy the bright sun.

All the parks and squares are filled with people. In the old town, shops featuring yellow jerseys with Zlatan Ibrahimović’s name on the back are packed with tourists strolling around. The bike paths are bustling, as are the ferries transporting locals and visitors to and from Djurgården, the beautiful island within the city. But not everyone in Stockholm sees this Sunday as a lovely park outing.

Hours before the match, Rasmus and many other Malmö fans are expected to gather at a particular bar in the city before heading to the game, which kicks off just after 2 p.m. And that’s exactly what happened.

By 11 a.m., many Malmö fans had already gathered at the bar, wearing scarves and jerseys in the team’s colours, drinking beers, and singing chants. The same continued during the journey to the stadium. On the train, they ran into AIK fans, but, perhaps unexpectedly, nothing happened. Both groups sang their teams’ chants in harmony. 

At around 1 p.m., the stadium started filling up. The home fans arrived from all directions and by all means: through the mall next to the stadium, crossing large highways, or even walking from the lake. Some locked their bicycles to tree trunks before heading in.

The Malmö supporters took their places in a corner of the stadium reserved for away fans. Despite being fewer, they made their presence known by lighting red flares at the start of the game which were visible from all angles.

As the smoke cleared one banner, featuring the VAR logo with a red "no" symbol over it, stood out above the rest. It’s a sentiment that unites the fans of both teams, who are staunchly opposed to the use of this technology in football.

VAR was first used in the Netherlands, in a cup game between Ajax and Willem, in September 2016. Within a few years, it became highly popular, and all major international competitions decided to adopt it, reasoning that it would eliminate injustices caused by unintentional refereeing errors.

At the same time, there were many who argued that this would permanently change football and strip it of the magic that sets it apart from other sports. Some even cited Maradona's "Hand of God" as an example, arguing that this iconic moment wouldn’t have happened under today's regulations.

The backlash didn’t only come from fans, but also from football legends like Alan Shearer, who predicted that this innovation wouldn’t thrive in England.

“In Britain, it seems that VAR is hard to digest. Not so much because of the debates over refereeing decisions, which aren’t part of the English culture, but because of the stoppages. The game halts, and people don’t like it when the rhythm is broken,” the Newcastle legend said, labelling VAR as a "joy killer."
However, his 2019 predictions were off, as the Premier League, along with 28 of Europe’s top 30 leagues, have implemented it and show no signs of abandoning it. And no, I haven’t made a mistake with the maths. There’s only one league that still firmly says no to its use. That’s the Allsvenskan, Sweden’s top tier home to the likes of Malmö, AIK and others.

For years, there’s been much discussion about Sweden’s different stance on this issue. A few months ago, a massive banner by AIK fans went viral, essentially depicting Sweden as the last “village”, a bastion standing against the campaigns of all other nations.

Rasmus feels extremely proud to “keep the old football alive.” “I don’t like VAR personally because it takes away the true beauty of football. When your team scores a goal, you want to celebrate it, not wait to see if it’s a goal or not. For me, it’s one of the worst things you can have. It ruins football.


“No one wants the new world of football. It takes away the feeling of scoring a goal and getting to celebrate it. Instead, you wait, and maybe after 5 minutes, you can celebrate, because you don’t know if it’s a goal, or they’ll take it back with VAR.”

Refereeing decisions have periodically sparked significant discussion in Sweden. A notable instance occurred during the Stockholm derby between Hammarby and Djurgården in May 2023, which ended in a 4-3 victory for Hammarby. Specifically, the controversy was centered around a penalty awarded to the home team in the 31st minute. 

"I think it bounced off my thigh and then onto my arm. I am not actively playing the ball with my hand. But they say it's a penalty. There's not much I can do," said Danielson, the player who committed the foul, during halftime.

A fan of Djurgården commented under the match highlights video, gaining considerable likes: "Are the handball rules different in Sweden compared to the rest of Europe? Totally crazy." Despite the backlash, it is noteworthy that there was not a single statement from any player or coach, nor a comment from a Djurgården supporter, in favor of VAR, suggesting that the technology could have changed the decision to benefit their team.

“Of course, I get mad when they call an incorrect offside. But all people make mistakes. I make mistakes at work, just like you. Referees have the right to make them too. You have to, or else you don’t learn and improve,” Rasmus points out.

And the big question is that: how have the fans managed to prevent the federation from adopting its use? The answer can be explained by the unique way that clubs are managed in Sweden.

The Swedish Football Association has taken a clear stance in favor of implementing VAR technology. Fredrik Reinfeldt, chairman of SvFF, stated in SVT, one of the largest TV channels in Sweden, “I guess I have to stand for it: I think this is our future.”

However, following the rejection from the clubs, he remarked, “If I counted correctly, we have 18 elite clubs and two districts that have said they do not want to introduce VAR,” Reinfeldt, the former Prime Minister of Sweden, told the Aftonbladet newspaper in an interview.

“We respect that. That's why we didn't present any proposal regarding VAR at the previous board of representatives meeting, and I don't foresee it in the future either. I stand by respecting the democratic rules of the game.”

According to their statutes, club members still hold 50+1 percent of the shares, allowing them to have the power to influence decisions. This is, of course, the case with Malmö as well.

"The members are the owners of the club. I own it, just like everyone else in the club," explains Rasmus. "We have meetings every year, and that’s when decisions are made. One example was the establishment of a women's football team 4–5 years ago. The question was whether we should start a team from scratch or buy one and place it directly in the first division. We decided to start it from the lowest division."

Rasmus recalls that when the question of introducing VAR into the league was raised, 98% of the members voted against it. The only club that has so far supported its use is IF Brommapojkarna, which plays in the first division.

As a result, fans of all other clubs decided to boycott them, choosing to abstain from attending their matches. Essentially, they decided not to support their own team in order to show opposition to their opponent's stance. Images have circulated online showing an empty stadium at AIK, where instead of fans in the stands, there were banners hung opposing the use of VAR.

Similar reactions have occurred in other Scandinavian countries, including Norway which has introduced the technology as of this year. The fans didn’t take it too well, throwing tennis balls onto the field to express their dissatisfaction with the direction football is taking. Elsewhere in the nordic region, similar protests occurred in Finland and Denmark as well.

Ioannis Pittas has been playing for AIK for the past two years and stands out with his performances. This season he has scored 11 goals in 27 matches.. He began his career in Cyprus, which uses VAR, and it took him some time to adjust to playing without it.

"VAR decides the details—whether there’s a handball, an offside that the referee might not catch. But playing without VAR feels like playing an old-school version of football, the way you learned it your whole life. I don’t mind whether it’s used or not, but once the rest of the world has it, it’s different to play without VAR. I’ve had one or two goals flagged offside that weren’t. But then again, there’s also the opposite situation, where a goal might have been allowed when it shouldn’t," he says.

The paradox is that both Ioannis Pittas, when playing for his national team, and the top-tier Swedish clubs encounter VAR in international games.

"It’s very strange. Matches there can have many minutes of stoppage time. The rhythm stops, and they check incidents for 5 or 6 minutes. I don’t like that." The very next day, at Tele2 Arena, the other big stadium in the city, Hammarby are hosting a match that closes the round of games.

The match is played at night rather than during the day, making the weather a bit colder. But that hasn’t put anyone off. The chants are so loud that, for the first time, I put my earplugs in. The strange thing is that it’s not just the ultras chanting, but everyone. It’s a unified stand. On the opposite side, about 500 away fans are shouting with all their might to make themselves heard. They know they are the underdogs but will fight for it.

The first half ends with the home team leading 1-0. The pace in the second half is equally fast. The referees are 100 times more careful with their decisions. Even more so the assistants, who are watching closely to avoid anyone being offside. They understand that they are the only ones who will decide what happens, as there is no VAR to assist them if there is a mistake.

The home team continues to press. But a few minutes before the end, the visitors counter-attack and equalize. The stands explode. Kids, parents, even elderly fans are ready to jump over the railings. The stadium security team watch closely but don’t step in. The match ends 1-1. I’ve witnessed two draws in two days. At least this one had goals, unlike the AIK vs Malmö match that ended 0-0 without major chances.

The stadium empties, leaving only a few away fans. The players approach them and talk about the match. It’s as if they know each other. Perhaps they are discussing a refereeing decision they didn’t like. Just like in the old days. In the old days of football.  ____
Understand the world through football
© 2024 Football Case Study

INDEX  NEXT