Harry Maguire has appeared to disagree with the stance of Manchester United legends Roy Keane and Wayne Rooney over whether or not VAR should be kept in the Premier League.
The Premier League could be without VAR, which has become a controversial addition to football, next season if clubs vote in favour of scrapping it altogether.
Wolves on Wednesday submitted a formal resolution to the Premier League calling for video assistant referees to be axed from England’s top-flight league.
The resolution will now be voted on by all 20 member clubs at their annual meeting on 6th June, though it remains unlikely the vote will pass.
Wolves’ motion to scrap VAR would require a two-thirds majority, with 14 out of the 20 Premier League clubs needing to vote in favour of the change.
VAR has shown both its pros and cons in football, with Manchester United fans and players divided on their feelings over the polarising use of it in the Premier League.
Roy Keane and Wayne Rooney have made their stances clear on VAR, while United players like Harry Maguire have now spoken out about the controversial tech.
What did Maguire say about VAR?
Harry Maguire has had an impressive turnaround season at Old Trafford after the Manchester United defender was stripped of the captaincy last summer.
The 31-year-old England centre-back had been linked with an exit from United in 2023, but Maguire remained at the club and fought for his place in the squad.
Speaking to The Sun newspaper, Maguire admitted that he would be in favour of keeping VAR so long as the main focus is on offside calls.
The United star insisted that he would “scrap it for everything” that relies on one’s opinion, adding that offside decisions are based on “factual” evidence.
“I think it is going to divide opinion and a lot of people will want to keep it,” Maguire said.
“Equally, the popular thing at the moment is to say get rid of it. It probably does need to be done better.
“The automated offsides are coming in next season and that will improve it. It will make things quicker.
“Personally, I would keep VAR but for offsides only. I would scrap it for everything that is opinion-based. Offsides are factual and not subjective.
“It is so difficult to lose a game on an offside goal when a player is two or three yards offside. Everyone makes mistakes, linesmen make mistakes, so that is why I would keep VAR for that.
“But I would not have it for red cards, or penalties because even now, people disagree if a decision is right or wrong. For sure, I don’t want to see penalties decided by VAR – just let the referee make the decision.
“There have been far too many soft penalties this season. Penalties decide football matches and are such an important part of the game.
“Obviously, I am a defender and I would say that. Strikers might say they want soft penalties.”
What did Keane and Rooney say on VAR?
The Premier League remains in support of retaining VAR, but neither Roy Keane nor Wayne Rooney would be sad to see it scrapped from England’s top-flight league.
Keane admitted that referees’ lives could be made a “little bit easier” without the presence of VAR, adding that he is not a fan of it and it can be “frustrating” at times.
“VAR was supposed to help referees but I don’t think it has helped them,” he said on Sky Sports.
“I think there is more self-doubt there than anything else. Referees get a hard time. Maybe this [scrapping VAR from the Premier League] will make their lives a little bit easier.
“The strange thing is that we talk about the decisions more than ever now considering this has all been there to try to help the officials.
“Every weekend we are talking about decisions even more so than back in the day when there was no VAR.
“I have not been a fan. It does slow the game down. It is frustrating for everyone, for supporters, for the players, and for us.”
Rooney, much like Keane, pulled no punches towards VAR and admitted his frustration with the “human error” involved with the technology.
“I don’t like VAR. If it’s there and they get all the decisions right, then fair. But it’s taken all the enjoyment out of the game,” he said.
“You score a goal, and you have to wait to celebrate, the fans have to wait to celebrate. Then they get decisions wrong.
“You’re better letting the officials ref the game.
“We’re still getting human error with VAR. Let them do it on the pitch, otherwise it’s taking them minutes and minutes to get to the decision. That’s still a human-making that decision.”
