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MUNICH, GERMANY - DECEMBER 01: Uli Hoeness, Honorary President of FC Bayern München attends a live talk at the trade show ISPO Munich 2025 at Messe Muenchen on December 01, 2025 in Munich, Germany. The ISPO trade show is a leading global event showcasing innovations in sports, outdoor, and fitness industries, connecting brands, retailers, and professionals from around the world. (Photo by Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The greatest benefit of modern technology is that it makes life easier. Don’t know something? Google it. Want to speak to someone all the way across the globe? Phone them. Lost in the city and don’t know where to go? Use a mapping app. These are all fantastic examples of how technology has made our lives’ easier, but sometimes, it can make life more complicated.
If you asked Bayern Munich Honorary President, Uli Hoeneß, he’d probably tell you it’s made life more complicated — or football, at least. In fact, in a recent interview, the 74-year-old executive took aim at football’s most controversial and divisive technology — Video Assistant Referee (VAR).
“I don’t think the referees have become worse,” Hoeneß began explaining (as captured by @iMiaSanMia). “I believe that VAR was actually created to prevent serious errors. If someone is two meters offside, then that must be prevented. But if someone is three centimeters offside, that is not an advantage. Now all the referees have to be under this pressure every weekend. And then people say, ‘Why didn’t he see that himself, the blind man?’ – Well, I don’t think the referees have gotten worse, but I do think that modern technology has made their job more difficult.”
BFW Commentary
I don’t subscribe to everything Uli Hoeneß says, but the Bayern Munich legend does have a point.
Refereeing is one of the world’s most difficult jobs. One has to make split second decisions, under pressure, amongst thousands of screaming fans. A sport like football — where a large grey area exists for many rules — doesn’t make it any easier. VAR was brought in to alleviate some of the pressure shouldered by referees, however, it’s almost done the exact opposite. Technology like VAR has shifted our expectation from mistakes coming part and parcel with the game, to a zero tolerance for mistakes, putting extra weight on every decision made by referees.
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