We could do what rugby does. Center ref says they want to go to VAR to confirm a call, but the “on field decision is xyz.” If VAR confirms it has evidence to overturn the ruling, they can show the center ref on the screen, and let them know what the call is. The VAR ref is a licensed ref and should be able to make all the same calls, so in the case the center ref asks for VAR assistance, the VAR ref should be able to make the appropriate call and relay it to the field. The communication is good, and explained to players, and even fans on TV can hear the conversations.

Football is steeped in so much tradition, it’s difficult to take one sport and say “do it just like this but in another sport.” Still, though, it’s easy to see that when a VAR has no ability to actually make calls, they have to run everything through the center ref, that things will get messy and confuscTed and take a bunch of time.

Let the center ref make the initial assessment, allow for VAR to confirm or explain why the call was not the case, and move on from there. If they need to call the ref to the screen to show, that’s fine, but VAR ref should have the power to confirm and make calls as well, when called upon by center ref.

I watch a lot of MLS, it hasn’t been too poorly implemented, although there are some growing pains. But some of the EPL calls and VAR usage is just baffling to me. Idk what the answer is, but “continue as we are” is definitely not the answer