Norwegian football will keep using Video Assistant Refereeing (VAR) despite its professional clubs voting to discontinue the system earlier this year.
In January, the 32 teams in Norsk Toppfotball (NTF), which represents clubs across Norway’s top two divisions — the Eliteserien and First Division — passed a motion by 19 votes to 13 to request the Norway Football Federation (NFF) “adopt the discontinuation of VAR as soon as possible”.
The NFF subsequently held an assembly on Saturday, March 1, in which all 450 of its member clubs — the vast majority of whom are amateur and grassroots clubs who do not use the officiating technology — were asked to vote on whether they wished to maintain VAR.
321 of the NFF’s clubs voted to maintain using VAR, defeating the 129 who voted for the motion to start the process of its discontinuation.
“This is the biggest turnout since the vote on (the 2022 World Cup in) Qatar,” Anders Kjellevold, chair of the Norwegian Supporters Alliance (NSA) told The Athletic.
“It was always going to be difficult for those who want the remove VAR, as the smaller clubs, which constitute most of the participants, usually supports the FA board. They did so this time around too. The FA has put its weight behind keeping VAR.
“Still, 129 votes against the uanonynous position of the FA board is a strong indication of the opposition towards VAR in Norway.”
VAR was introduced into Eliteserien in 2023 but has frequently been the subject of supporter protests. One incident in July 2024 saw the top-flight match between Rosenborg and Lillestrom abandoned after supporters threw tennis balls, fishcakes and smokebombs onto the pitch in protest against the technology.
A VAR report from the NFF in November stated the federation was being criticised for “its communication style regarding VAR”, adding: “players acknowledge that VAR has enhanced the fairness of refereeing decisions, but call for improvements in time management and more predictable procedures.”
Elsewhere in Europe, Sweden became the first country to reject implementing VAR after fan backlash in May. The following month, Premier League clubs rejected proposals to scrap VAR following a motion from Wolverhampton Wanderers at the league’s AGM.
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