In video assistant referee we trust? A quantitative study of Swedish football supporters' perception of VAR and attitude towards implementing VAR

Abstract: In 2016, the International Football Association Board (IFAB) approved the use of Video Assistant Referee (VAR) in football. In recent years, an ongoing debate has unfolded in Sweden regarding the potential implementation of VAR in Allsvenskan. The aim of this thesis is to examine VAR and assess the fans' perceptions and attitudes towards it in Sweden. Moreover, it seeks to explore multiple influential factors that shape these opinions including fandom, openness to technology, debating in football and football consumption. Understanding these sentiments has become increasingly pivotal, particularly for preserving the success of clubs within the realm of sports marketing. To achieve this, a cross-sectional quantitative study was conducted using an online questionnaire distributed among nine Swedish football fan groups on Facebook. The collected results from 421 fans across the country revealed a variety of opinions among respondents. Notably, a significant portion expressed a negative perception and attitude towards the technology, while nearly half favored its implementation in Allsvenskan. Regarding the influential factors, fandom and debating in football had a negative impact on the dependent variables while openness to technology and football consumption had a positive impact.