Juventus Star Sami Khedira Slams Long VAR Stoppages as 'the Death of Football'

It's a hotly debated topic in football and will be implemented for the first time officially in the UK when England face Germany in a friendly, but Video Assistant Referee's (VAR) is still in the test stages despite already featuring in leagues such as Serie A and the Bundesliga.

Speaking to reporters ahead of the clash with England, German international and box-to-box midfielder Sami Khedira claimed that the introduction of further assistant for match officials is a positive step, but needs to progress for it to be successful.

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“VAR is a good thing, but not the way it has been implemented. It needs better regulations,” admitted Khedira, as quoted by Football Italia.

“Its application in the Bundesliga has been disastrous. Football is about emotions and mistakes are part of the sport. If we can avoid errors, that’s better, but now players don’t know whether to celebrate a goal or not, as they’re waiting for the verdict."

For Khedira, the stop and starts created by VAR slows the game down, disrupting the flow of the match.

“This way, you lose a lot of the passion. If we regulate a clear use of VAR, then that’s ok, but when you stop a game for three minutes with the players standing there doing nothing, that is the death of football.”

While the former Real Madrid midfield enforcer has questioned the inclusion of VAR, fellow Juventus legend Gianluigi Buffon claimed that it needs to now be included in international football, after it's success in his eyes at national level.

“This introduction process of VAR is unusual, as it is being used well in Italy now, I feel, and in international matches of this level we cannot rely on the technology that could well be decisive, because there is so much at stake. That I find rather strange.”