Var Killing ‘joy’ Of Football, Says Thierry Henry

France legend Thierry Henry believes the time taken to reach decisions using VAR is killing the “joy” of football.

Henry said on Wednesday he had no problems with the technology in principle but was frustrated by the speed of reviews compared to other sports.

The 45-year-old, thinks that VAR is causing fresh controversies and not reducing arguments about refereeing decisions.

Speaking at the Leaders Week sport business conference in London, Henry said, “In football we’re still behind, we have so much to learn. What I can see in American football, in rugby, in cricket or whatever it is, tennis, it’s instant.”

“With VAR, what I get annoyed with is it’s not quick enough. Then it’s still the decision of someone in a truck or wherever they are, because it’s not VAR that makes the decision, VAR is just there to recall the situation,” the France legend continued.

Henry said the uncertainty surrounding VAR was preventing immediate celebrations.

“What we want to see is the game going on,” he said. “Another thing that’s very difficult for me is I used to score goals as a player. Sometimes (now) you don’t even know if you need to jump. Am I jumping? Am I celebrating? Am I not celebrating? It kills the beat of the joy of the game,” he concluded.