Speaker
Description
Video Assistant Referee (VAR) has been implemented in numerous football leagues in Europe. The Norwegian Football Federation aims to implement VAR in both the men’s and women’s elite divisions, however, it has only been confirmed for the men’s division. This is also the case for many other countries. The gendered differences in the implementation of VAR may negatively impact the professionalization of women’s football. Gender differences in access to novel sports technologies such as VAR may also have (un)intended equity consequences considering that men tend to referee both male and female sports, while women referees are often limited to women’s sports. This study examines the research question: (a) how is the implementation of VAR gendered in Norwegian elite football? This is investigated through interviews with Norwegian referees and VAR instructors working within the VAR implementation process in Norwegian elite football. The interviews were conducted during the VAR-training of Norwegian referees in 2022. The analysis show that the referees do not believe that their role will change after VAR is implemented. Consequently, neither referees nor instructors believe elite football refereeing will become more available to women, even with the inclusion of a technology which increases the number of match referees from 4 to 6. Recruitment to elite refereeing and access to VAR-training appears as a closed process involving vague criteria, resulting in an overweight of men being selected. Finally, male referees perceive VAR as a gender-neutral technological tool which male and female referees have equal possibilities to learn and use.
