--- title: VAR rows, referees, fans and rivalries — a lesson of Mova's school · trees and pragmatics description: «VAR rows, referees, fans and rivalries», a lesson of the medicine course of Mova's primary school, sentence by sentence with dependency trees and pragmatics. It begins: When your team is losing, adrenaline makes you certain you're right, but a fan 60 m up in the stand sees from one angle while the --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/65-var-rows-referees-fans-and-rivalries/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/) / [Medicine](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/) / VAR rows, referees, fans and rivalries # VAR rows, referees, fans and rivalries Lesson 65 of the medicine course of Mova's primary school: 15 sentences, each with its syntax tree and pragmatics. The lessons are written for Mova, and their agreed trees are part of Mova corpus 0.4 (CC BY-SA 4.0). How Mova does on its tests: [the lesson at school](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/school-run/medicine/65-var-rows-referees-fans-and-rivalries/). - [0](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/65-var-rows-referees-fans-and-rivalries/0/) — When your team is losing, adrenaline makes you certain you're right, but a fan 60 m up in the stand sees from one angle while the ref is often 10 m away, and the replay quite often shows the ref got it right. - [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/65-var-rows-referees-fans-and-rivalries/1/) — Darnell screams «VAR, check EVERYTHING!» at the telly, but VAR only looks at four things, goals, penalties, straight red cards and mistaken identity, and only steps in for clear and obvious errors, so a throw-in stays with the ref. - [2](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/65-var-rows-referees-fans-and-rivalries/2/) — Referees are athletes too, running about 10 to 12 km a match, and in kids' football many refs are teenagers; shouting and abuse are a big reason they quit, and with no refs there are no matches. - [4](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/65-var-rows-referees-fans-and-rivalries/4/) — VAR checks only four kinds of decision: goals, penalties, straight red cards and mistaken identity, and only for clear and obvious errors. - [5](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/65-var-rows-referees-fans-and-rivalries/5/) — VAR was used at the 2018 World Cup and came to the Premier League a year later, in 2019. - [6](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/65-var-rows-referees-fans-and-rivalries/6/) — At the 2022 World Cup, semi-automated offside used cameras and a sensor in the ball that sent data 500 times a second; offside is judged on body parts you can score with, not the arms. - [7](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/65-var-rows-referees-fans-and-rivalries/7/) — Top referees run about 10 to 12 km in a match, nearly as far as many players, and have to pass fitness tests. - [8](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/65-var-rows-referees-fans-and-rivalries/8/) — Many grassroots referees are teenagers, and abuse from the touchline is a big reason referees give up. - [9](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/65-var-rows-referees-fans-and-rivalries/9/) — Anger and adrenaline make people feel sure they are right, and fans far from the play see from one angle. - [10](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/65-var-rows-referees-fans-and-rivalries/10/) — When matches were played without crowds in 2020, studies reported that home advantage shrank, but that does not make booing fair, and booing your own players knocks their confidence. - [11](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/65-var-rows-referees-fans-and-rivalries/11/) — Derbies are games between local rivals; rivalry is fine as banter, not as fights or hate. - [12](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/65-var-rows-referees-fans-and-rivalries/12/) — At the Hillsborough disaster in 1989, 97 Liverpool fans died in a crush; inquests in 2016 found they were unlawfully killed and that the fans were not to blame, and stadiums today have stewards and seats. - [13](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/65-var-rows-referees-fans-and-rivalries/13/) — At a big match, children stay with their adult, agree a meeting point, and tell a steward if the crowd feels too tight. - [14](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/65-var-rows-referees-fans-and-rivalries/14/) — After England lost the Euro 2020 final on penalties, three players who missed were racially abused online, and some of the abusers were prosecuted; the right move with a hateful post is to report it, not share it. - [15](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/65-var-rows-referees-fans-and-rivalries/15/) — Under the Laws of the Game, arguing with the referee can bring a yellow card, abusive language a red card, and the team then plays with one fewer. - ← previous: [Cheating and doping, as reported](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/64-cheating-and-doping-as-reported/) - next →: [Picking teams and being picked last](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/66-picking-teams-and-being-picked-last/) - ↑ back to [Medicine](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/school/medicine/)