321 voted in favor, while 129 voted against the use of VAR in the future. The vote on VAR in particular contributed to a record high attendance at the annual meeting.
"I hope that it is not a result that fans and clubs are disappointed with. I hope that we are able to continue working on developing VAR", says Lise Klaveness, president of the football association.
VAR was introduced in the top Norwegian football league, the Eliteserien, ahead of the 2023 season, and since then it has been a major topic of debate. Disillusionment increased in the early months of VAR’s adoption, with the technology taking seven minutes to decide on an offside call in one match.
A match between Rosenborg and Lillestrøm was suspended — and later abandoned and restaged behind closed doors — after fans threw fish cakes and then tennis balls onto the field soon after kickoff in a protest against VAR.
In a vote in January of the 32 clubs making up the top two leagues in Norway, 19 voted to scrap VAR and 13 to keep it. A recommendation was sent to the federation to support the clubs’ majority decision and remove VAR “as soon as possible.”
In a blow to anti-VAR campaigners, the Norwegian Football Association came out in favor of the technology a week later, with president Lise Klaveness saying the association acknowledged processes needed improving but wanted to retain video officials.
All clubs which are active members of the federation were allowed to vote, along with leaders of the federation’s counties and members of the federation board.