It was last night that Malmö FF, IFK Gothenburg, Elfsborg, Hammarby, AIK, Djurgården, Sirius, Helsingborg and Sundsvall sent a joint letter to the Swedish Football Association and the district associations in which they argued that VAR should not be introduced in Swedish football.
Their arguments are many and for SVT Sport, Djurgården's CEO Henrik Berggren explains how the clubs reasoned on the matter.
- It has been known for quite a long time where we elite clubs stand on this issue and we have been strongly negative to the introduction of VAR in Swedish football and membership decisions have been made in about ten clubs where it is very, very clear, says Berggren.
Berggren: "It feels obvious"
And now that a decision is approaching, they take the opportunity to once again clarify where they stand on the issue.
What is it about VAR that you perceive as most worrying?
- Football is very much about emotions and I think we have all seen in the big leagues in Europe that this possible waiting to be allowed to cheer is extremely worrying.
Of course there can be advantages as well, some kind of exact justice, and there are certainly arguments for the referees that they could develop and get more international assignments, but we don't think in any way that those advantages outweigh the disadvantages.
Doesn't it feel like it's a bit of a backwards mentality when so many leagues around Europe have introduced VAR and that the TV audience is used to it and so on?
- No, if you think something is bad, you should say so and simply not introduce it, I wouldn't be at all surprised if you go in the other direction in some leagues that have introduced this, for us it feels obvious.
High cost
Another negative aspect is the high cost.
- There is a report on svenskelitfotboll.se which states that an implementation of VAR costs somewhere between SEK 13-15 million per year, says IFK Gothenburg's chairman Richard Berkling to SVT Sport.
Who will have to bear that cost if VAR is introduced is currently unclear.
- In the end, it's Swedish football.
Then whether it will be at the confederation level, on the organizer's side or whether it will be the clubs who have to bear the cost remains to be seen because there is still nothing to decide on, says Berkling.