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Football (i.e., soccer) is a global sport that attracts millions of fans and players, but it also undergoes constant changes and innovations to meet new demands and opportunities [1]. Technology is a key factor in improving the quality, safety, and entertainment of sports, both on and off the pitch [2]. Some of the technological tools used in football include additional assistant referee [3], goal line technology [4] and vanishing spray [5]. Among these technologies, goal-line technology has substantially improved referee decision-making in football, especially when the ball is not visible due to obstacles [6].
Although these technologies have been used over time, referees’ decisions are still debated. In order to minimize this situation, Video assistant referee (VAR) technology has recently been introduced [7]. VAR is a match official in association football who reviews decisions made by the referee using video replays. The VAR can only intervene in four match-changing situations: goals, penalty decisions, direct red card incidents, and mistaken identity. The VAR contacts the referee through an earpiece and advises the referee to either confirm, change, or review their decision. The referee can check the images on a pitch-side monitor before deciding. The referee always has the final decision to accept or reject the VAR’s advice. The VAR system aims to improve the accuracy and consistency of referee decisions and reduce injustice and controversy [8].
Studies analyzing the impact of VAR on referee decisions [9, 10] and football game [11,12,13] indicated that VAR implementation leads to more accurate refereeing decisions [9] and a decrease in offsides, fouls, and yellow cards [11]. Spitz et al. (2021) analyzed the impact of VAR on the accuracy of referee decisions, examining the referee’s initial and final decisions after VAR intervention. According to the study the accuracy rate of the referees’ final decisions increased from 92.1 to 98.3% after VAR intervention [9]. However, while there is some evidence that VAR has some impact on football game, Lago-Peñas, Gómez (12) stated that the impact of VAR on elite-level play remains relatively negligible.
In football, the impact on home advantage (HA) and referee bias is considered one of the most debated issues related to this technology [14]. HA is a phenomenon where home teams are believed to have an advantage over away teams due to crowd support and familiarity with the venue. On the other hand, the performance of away teams is affected due to travel fatigue and psychological pressure from home fans. Another phenomenon related to HA is referee bias, which affects referees’ decisions due to crowd noise and social pressure from home fans [15]. Recently, HA has been the topic of research in several sports, particularly football [16, 17]. Several authors have demonstrated the existence of HA and emphasized that home teams have an important advantage [18, 19]. Moreover, HA and referee bias have been demonstrated at different league levels [15, 20] and similarly in women’s football [21]. However, some studies have suggested that technology can reduce HA and referee bias by providing more objective and accurate information [14]. For instance, goal-line technology can prevent errors in goal decisions that could affect the outcome of a match [6].
The Covid-19 outbreak worldwide led to the introduction of VAR and the removal of spectators in many sports competitions [17, 22]. Many researchers have found that HA decreases in ghost matches compared to matches with spectators [16, 17, 20, 23, 24]. However, they did not take into account the possible effect of VAR on HA. Wunderlich et al. (2021) argued that HA persists even without spectators, suggesting that other factors besides the influence of spectators on the team’s performance or the referee’s decision-making contribute to HA [25]. Thus, there is a need for a better understanding of the effects of VAR technology on HA and referee bias. Furthermore, considering the specific characteristics of the leagues, the results of the Turkish league may be different from the others [26]. Moreover, to the best of our knowledge, no studies are currently available that investigate this matter specifically concerning the Turkish Super League. Therefore, this research aimed to check how VAR technology may have an impact on the mean scores of home and away teams in some performance indicators (points, goals, fouls, yellow cards, red cards, offsides and penalties), as well as to analyze the magnitude and direction of the HA and a plausible referee bias in the Turkish Super League.
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