VAR has divided football fans since the moment it crashed the men’s game at the 2018 World Cup. From “was it handball?” debates to five-minute offside checks measuring a striker’s kneecap, VAR sceptics say it kills the flow, the buzz, the pure chaos that makes football football. But love it or loathe it, VAR is here to stay – in the men’s game, anyway.
In the WSL, it’s a very different story.
Two controversial calls in the Arsenal vs Chelsea match – played in front of over 56,000 fans – threw the WSL’s lack of VAR back under the brightest possible spotlight. Arsenal’s Stina Blackstenius smashed home a volley that sent the Emirates into orbit, only for the referee to chalk it off for a handball nobody actually saw. Replays showed it hit her hip. No VAR meant no correction.
Minutes from time, Frida Maanum thought she’d found a winner. Up went the flag again. This time the margins were tight, messy, inconclusive – the kind of moment VAR was built for. Even Alessia Russo’s equaliser was disputed by Chelsea, who insisted there was an offside in the build-up.
The match finished 1–1, but the scoreline felt overshadowed. Instead of celebrating two of the league’s best teams, everyone was arguing about officiating.
As women’s football explodes in popularity – bigger crowds, bigger coverage, bigger stakes – naturally, the pressure to bring VAR into the WSL has never been louder. Here’s how we got here, and what it would take to fix it.
A Brief History of VAR
VAR didn’t appear overnight. It began as an experiment in selected domestic and international competitions before being formally added to football’s Laws of the Game in 2018. The whole idea was “minimal interference, maximum benefit” – basically, only step in when the ref has clearly got something big wrong.
Its global coming-out party was the 2018 men’s World Cup. A year later, FIFA green-lit VAR for the 2019 Women’s World Cup after players and coaches pushed for equality. As the USWNT’s Jill Ellis put it at the time: “It would be insulting if we weren’t afforded the same opportunity.”
Today, practically every major men’s competition uses VAR.
And the women’s game? It’s catching up.
UEFA rolled out VAR across every match of the Women’s Euro 2022. FIFA deployed it at the 2023 Women’s World Cup. Additionally, the Women’s Champions League uses VAR from the quarter-finals, with expansion planned.
At the top levels, VAR is becoming the norm. But the WSL is still operating analogue in a digital era.
Why the WSL Still Has No VAR
This is where romance meets reality.
Despite huge growth – rising attendances, bigger-club investment – the WSL remains one of the few elite leagues without VAR. The reasons? Resources. Logistics. Money.
Unlike the Premier League, where every ground is TV-ready with built-in camera grids, many WSL matches are played in smaller stadiums with limited broadcast infrastructure. Some teams ground-share with lower-league men’s clubs or use training venues. Installing the full VAR setup – high-spec cameras, replay suites, comms tech – isn’t a quick plug-and-play job. It’s a rebuild.
Then there’s the bill.
VAR needs specialist refs, replay operators, and high-cost tech. Running it for a season runs comfortably into seven figures. Scotland’s top flight spends around £1.2m a year on VAR. The FA says a single VAR-enabled FA Cup tie costs roughly £9,000. Multiply that across an entire WSL season and it becomes a serious financial commitment.
Former Manchester United manager Casey Stoney summed it up bluntly in 2020: “Women’s football can spend its money on far better things than VAR.”
For years, that argument held. But the game has moved on. The stakes are higher now – title races, Champions League qualification, performance bonuses – and the spotlight is brighter than ever. The question is no longer should the WSL get VAR; it’s why hasn’t it happened yet?
Where VAR Is Used in Women’s Football
Here’s the contrast WSL players feel every time a decision goes wrong:
- Women’s World Cup – VAR
- Women’s Euros – VAR
- Olympic football – VAR
- Women’s Champions League – VAR
- NWSL (USA) – VAR
- Portugal’s top division – VAR
In other words: the biggest women’s competitions already run on video review. The WSL – one of the most visible leagues on the planet – doesn’t.
How VAR Works, and Who Pays
VAR is basically a second referee team watching the match from a dedicated video hub. They check four types of decisions: goals, penalties, straight reds, and mistaken identity.
To run it properly, a league needs:
- A central VAR operations room or on-site broadcast vans
- Multiple synchronised camera angles
- Trained VAR officials
- Replay operators + tech support
- Consistent broadcast-quality infrastructure in every stadium
The cost varies depending on scale, but someone has to pay. In the WSL’s case, that would likely be the league itself – now run by a new club-owned body, WSL Football, rather than directly by the FA – combined with club contributions and, if the stars align, a commercial sponsor to offset costs.
It’s doable. It’s coming. Just not fast enough for the players living with the consequences.
VERTA’s Take
The WSL is finally entering an era where the money is starting to move – serious sponsors, serious investment, real commercial momentum. With that comes bigger expectations, bigger scrutiny, and bigger stakes. Fans want elite standards. Players deserve elite conditions. Broadcasters expect consistency. Decisions matter more than ever.
But here’s the tension no one can ignore: VAR isn’t cheap, and not every club has the same financial muscle.
For the league’s biggest sides, the cost is a manageable line item. For smaller, less-resourced clubs, it’s a genuine stretch. And a two-tier system – where only the wealthiest teams can afford better officiating – simply isn’t an option.
That’s the dilemma at the heart of the WSL’s next phase.
Yes, new revenue is coming in. Yes, the game is growing fast. But where should that money go first?
Into VAR?
Into better training facilities?
Into player welfare and medical teams?
Into youth development pipelines?
Into bigger signings and professional contracts?
All of the above?
The WSL can’t be asked to choose between integrity and infrastructure, but it does need a strategy. The league’s commercial rise has accelerated expectations faster than resources, and the decisions made now – what to fund, what to delay, what to prioritise – will shape the next decade of women’s football in England.
VAR will arrive. It has to. But the real question is whether the league can deliver it in a way that lifts every club, not just the ones with deep pockets.
Because progress only works if everyone gets to move forward together.
You can find more VERTA long reads in our Opinion & Insights section here
