A recent YouGov survey in Britain has found that fewer than one in five Premier League fans want VAR to be scrapped even if most believe the system is still working poorly.
Despite the errors and constant controversies surrounding the system that is far from perfect, the sentiment amongst fans is that it should not be ripped from the game but instead kept and improved upon.
The survey also concluded that nearly six in 10 believe VAR has operated poorly when recommending whether a penalty should be awarded, while just over half feel the same about instances of red card fouls.
Is VAR destroying the beautiful game?
Speaking exclusively to Tribal Football via Betano Online Casino, Limpar admitted that he has mixed feelings on VAR, a system which he says has helped officials make tough calls thanks to the progress of technology on and off the pitch.
How has VAR changed football and what are your thoughts on the current system?
“I think all technology is good for football. We have goal-line technology, which is brilliant. VAR, okay, it's everywhere. Sometimes it can take too long for them to decide an offside or a foul.
“There are different people who are looking at different situations, I don’t think that helps because they all have different opinions. I've seen some dreadful mistakes with VAR, but I don't think we should take it away because it helps the game.
“However, it certainly doesn't help the fans, because it can take five minutes sometimes and that's devastating. I'm all for VAR, especially goal line cameras and in tight games, finals, whatever, when it comes to scoring and deciding on goals.
“I'm for VAR, but they have to solve the issue of who is going to decide the situations. It's different sometimes. Look at the Champions League, people from different countries look at football from different points of view.”
Has VAR destroyed football? Would you be happy to see it be removed from football altogether?
“It doesn't ruin the game, it actually helps the game because sometimes a goal is scored when it's offside, and sometimes it's not. It helps the game, especially with the goal-line technology as I said.
“It helps the game, and it definitely helps the referees in making huge decisions, it gives them a safety net. It definitely helps the referees more than it helps the fans watching the games.”
Fans must accept VAR is here to stay
The YouGov survey also found that almost three-quarters (72%) of regular viewers think VAR has made watching games less enjoyable. A Football Supporters' Association survey also found three-quarters of Premier League fans are against the use of VAR and that 90% disagree that it has made the match-going experience better.
Limpar believes that even if fans are against the system, they must grow used to it as it isn't going away anytime soon despite impeding on the beautiful game more and more each season.
Has VAR ruined the experience for fans? Especially when celebrating a goal?
“VAR, it's awful for the fans, obviously. They celebrate for their lives and then it gets taken away for an offside or whatever. But that's a part of the game nowadays and the fans should actually accept it, in my opinion.
“If you go to the game nowadays, you know you have VAR, you know it's going to be decisions, you know you're going to probably wait for a couple of minutes to decide if it's a goal or not, or offside or whatever. So that's the part of the new game and I think all the fans just have to accept it.”
The BBC report that in the Premier League alone there were 25 VAR errors this season, up from the 18 in the 2024-25 campaign. However, this was an improvement on previous years, with 31 errors in 2023-24 and 38 in 2022-23 as the system continues to adapt but also divide fans each week.