Madrid derby controversy proves why it's time to scrap VAR

Maybe it is time to scrap VAR.

Seriously, what is the point of having it?

VAR was introduced to help eliminate major human errors. Instead, we now seem to have human errors followed by more humans watching those errors on a screen and still leaving everyone arguing about the decision.

Keep technology for offsides. Keep goal line technology. Use it for mistaken identity and other factual decisions.

But when it comes to subjective tackles and red cards, the Madrid derby has once again shown why VAR is creating as much confusion as it is solving.

Mourinho wanted two red cards

Jose Mourinho arrived for his post match press conference after Real Madrid's 2 1 defeat to Atletico carrying pictures of two first half incidents.

He believed both should have been red cards.

The first involved Cristian Romero and Jude Bellingham.

Bellingham was initially booked, but VAR intervened and referee Miguel Angel Ortiz Arias went to the monitor. After watching the incident again, he rescinded Bellingham's yellow and instead booked Romero for catching the England midfielder with his studs.

For me, that is a 50/50 challenge. Romero won the ball and the follow through collided with Jude's knee. Both were going at force there. It's a proper hard challenge that you see in derbies.

But we have certainly seen red cards given for similar challenges. But the referee watched it again and decided yellow was enough.

Fine. It was a subjective call and he made his decision.

But the second incident?

That is where VAR becomes very difficult to defend.

How was Lee not even booked?

Lee Kang in caught Federico Valverde on the ankle with his studs shortly before half time.

No red card.

Not even a yellow.

And crucially, VAR did not send the referee to the monitor. Reuters reported that Real's players immediately appealed for a red, while Mourinho later specifically questioned why VAR had not intervened.

Real Madrid also singled out the incident in their official match report, arguing Lee should have been dismissed.

This is exactly where the problem lies.

If the referee did not see the full severity of the challenge in real time, that is understandable.

Football is incredibly fast. Referees have one angle and a split second to make a decision.

Human errors will happen.

But there were officials sitting in front of multiple screens with different angles and slow motion replays.

If VAR is not going to intervene in an incident like that, then what exactly is it there for?

Should players start doing theatrics?

There is another uncomfortable question here.

Valverde did not roll around for two minutes demanding medical attention. He did not surround the referee or make a huge show of the contact.

And now you inevitably get the argument that perhaps he should have made more of it.

Is that really what football wants to encourage?

Should a player have to exaggerate contact before VAR takes an incident seriously?

Mourinho has spoken before about his players being too naive in these situations. But surely technology was supposed to remove the need for theatrics.

The cameras can see what happened whether the player rolls around or immediately gets back up.

It happened at 0-0

And context matters.

The Lee incident happened late in the first half with the score still 0-0.

Real Madrid were not playing particularly well even when it was 11 against 11. Atletico were arguably the better side and came out much stronger after the break.

Then Dean Huijsen brought down Giuliano Simeone early in the second half.

Penalty. Red card.

I do not have much argument with that one. VAR intervened, Huijsen's initial yellow was upgraded to red and Alejandro Grimaldo converted the penalty. Atletico eventually won 2-1.

But imagine how different the match could have been if Atletico had already been reduced to 10 men before half time.

We cannot say Real Madrid would have won. Nobody knows that.

But the entire tactical picture would have been different.

And that is precisely why these decisions matter.

Let referees referee

VAR was supposed to remove clear and obvious mistakes.

Instead, we now spend even more time debating what constitutes a clear and obvious mistake.

One incident gets reviewed. Another does not.There is no consistency whatsoever.

The technology has not removed subjectivity because ultimately another human being is still interpreting the pictures.

So perhaps football should simplify it.

Use technology for factual decisions where it genuinely improves accuracy. Offside. Goal line decisions. Mistaken identity.

But for everything else, let the referee make the call.

Yes, referees will make mistakes.

But I would rather accept a human making a mistake in real time than watch a team of officials make one when they have the technology, the replays and every possible angle sitting right in front of them.

Because if VAR cannot correct the obvious ones, what is the point of having it?