Experienced broadcaster Chris Ford believes VAR is in need of a comprehensive review this summer amid controversy throughout its debut campaign.
Ford has been covering the Premier League for the likes of BTSport and Amazon Prime this season.
He has therefore seen firsthand the impact that the technology has had on the league over the past six months.
“Managers seem to be fed up with talking about VAR this season. They’re biting their tongues because there’s no need to get a fine now when there will probably be a big meeting in the summer.”
Liverpool have opened up a 14 point lead at the top of the table with a game in-hand. Ford says “in the interest of fairness you can’t change the system midway through. It would discredit the Liverpool if they were to win the league.”
The 43-year-old worked closely with Leicester during their amazing run to the Premier League title in the 2015/16 season.
However, the Geordie was worried that he had cost the Foxes their moment of glory during one of his broadcasts.
“I was filming a segment outside the King Power Stadium and the camera man noticed a mark on the big badge that was over my shoulder.
“I went to wipe it away and when I mentioned it to someone around the club they instantly asked if I had wiped it off.
“Apparently, the club had brought in some monks to wish good luck upon the side pre-season. I really did think I had blown it when Riyad Mahrez missed a last-minute penalty that would have won the next game.”
Claudio Ranieri famously promised his players pizza as a reward for clean sheets during that season, and it was Ford that got that line out of him.
When speaking to the players during pre-season, Ford realised that all but one of the players – a young Ben Chilwell – wanted Nigel Pearson to return to the club.
“At this point I thought they would be in for another relegation battle and that Ranieri wouldn’t make it to Christmas. But luckily for Leicester I couldn’t have been more wrong.”
In a career spanning almost 20 years, Ford has also reported on a range of different sports, most notably the Olympics.
This summer Ford will be working for Olympic Broadcasting Services as the boxing reporter during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
He was also one of the first to interview a young Tyson Fury when he first broke into professional boxing.
“He wasn’t a World Champion at the time but he had an aura. He described himself as the young Errol Flynn.”
