When Tech Turns Against Us: The Heartbreak of Unemployed Workers in the Age of VAR (El País)

The introduction of VAR has arguably enhanced fairness on the pitch, yet it has also introduced a new level of heartache over marginal offside decisions. El País revisits the philosophical whirlwind sparked by the penalty awarded to Julián Alvarez, as explored by Natalia Junquera. "Did the ball touch him twice? Was he onside, and was he nudged again right before he struck? And would Leonardo DiCaprio have found room on the Titanic’s lifeboats? Is the Mona Lisa melancholic, overjoyed, or simply resigned? These are questions worthy of lifelong debate." Yet the crux of the matter lies elsewhere: it would surely have been less agonising had Alvarez taken that penalty like Vinicius, burying the ball in the stands before extra time. We tend to process with ease what we can grasp: human error. What the eye perceives and the heart perceives—these make up the manageable distances of compassion and inner peace. Before VAR graced our stadiums, the ultimate nightmare was conceding a last-minute goal, leaving supporters feeling utterly abandoned. VAR was introduced with the promise of fairness, and perhaps it has delivered to some extent. However, it has simultaneously intensified the brutality of the game. A decisive goal annulled for offside due to a toe or minimal contact—per UEFA—between Alvarez’s plant foot and an opponent before his penalty kick is a bitter pill to swallow. Technology invariably stirs emotions, a truth understood by those forced to adapt after losing jobs to machines. Mariano Rajoy succinctly put it: “We must construct machines that allow us to keep crafting more machines, because machines alone can’t create machines. This struggle falls to us as humans." While football's cruelty existed long before VAR, the statistics are telling. If losing an election by a solitary vote is painful, then losing thanks to an invalidated ballot only amplifies the tragedy.