Simon Jordan issues strong VAR in the EFL Championship stance | OneFootball

Simon Jordan believes that if VAR is introduced in the Championship, it should be for Leagues One and Two as well

The EFL campaign kicked off this past weekend, and with the Premier League not beginning until next weekend, it allowed the Championship, League One and League Two to be spotlighted.

And the biggest difference that Premier League fans who may not follow the EFL as closely noticed was the absence of VAR, something which has dominated top-flight football headlines for seven years.

It's a polarising topic, but one that the majority of fans err on the side of displeasure, rather than believing it to be a benefit to the game, as some argue it's made referees more afraid to make decisions on the field, and it's almost unanimously agreed that it's slowed the game down.

Wolves fans relished the lack of VAR in their Championship opener on Friday night against Blackburn Rovers, expletively chanting against it while Marshall Munetsi celebrated opening the scoring. In the Premier League, those celebrations were always caveated with the possibility of a lengthy check and the goal being disallowed.

Norwich City, West Brom incident puts forward case for VAR to be introduced in the Championship

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However, while Wolves fans and other fans, too, were relieved not to have VAR in their opening game, some felt aggrieved by decisions that VAR may have overturned in their favour.

In that same game at Molineux, Blackburn conceded a late penalty for a handball that, with a few slo-mo replays, may have been overturned, with it being questionable whether Ryan Alebiosu was in the box when the ball struck his arm.

On Saturday, there was no denying that the ball hit the arm of West Brom's Aune Heggebo before finding the back of the net in the Baggies' win over Norwich City.

Correctly overturning that decision would have kept the scoreline at 0-0 with 15 minutes to go, meaning any side could have then gone on to win.

Simon Jordan makes wider EFL point when discussing VAR in the Championship

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Speaking on talkSPORT, Jim White, Martin Keown and Simon Jordan discussed whether it was time for VAR to be introduced in the Championship.

And while all three were in agreement that it needs to be implemented in some form, Jordan made the astute point that, if VAR was introduced, it would need to be introduced in all three EFL leagues, rather than just the Championship.

Keown focused more on the second tier, stating, "There's a strong argument to bring VAR in. When you consider this is the sixth-biggest league in European football and the revenue involved. I think it's time to bring it in. The clubs are voting against it, though."

"I think the Championship clubs would vote it in," Jordan replied. "I think that the problem is that the EFL is a construct of 72 clubs. Go tell Accrington to spend £200,000 hard-wiring their stadium for VAR.

"You've got 72 clubs in all three divisions that are all members of one set of rules. Why would you have VAR in the Championship but not VAR in League One and in League Two? Everything's as important; the scales and finances might be different, but so-and-so forth.

"So, with that set of rules as governance, how can you turn around and say to a club that's bleeding out of their eyes...these clubs have got no money.

"Isn't it football's responsibility to find the funding regime to put together VAR? Because it's as important in a game in League Two as it is for winning the Premier League."

Football fans react to Championship VAR debate

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The response online to Martin Keown especially calling for VAR to be introduced into the Championship is relatively negative. There may have been some clear and obvious errors that VAR would have cleaned up, but the overarching feeling is that the EFL doesn't need it.

"Football got on just fine for well over 100 years without VAR. Even with it, we still have some ridiculous decisions & the delays it causes have taken some enjoyment out of the game. Fans want to celebrate a goal properly, not wait for a bloke 100 miles away to study the build-up," one Wolves fan said in response.

"Keep VAR away from the Championship. I don't want to hear any pundit, ex-pro - whomever - talking about VAR in the Championship. You get hours and hours of content calling it the worst thing in the world; the hell makes you think we want it?! Go long with that nonsense," a Derby fan added.

"They should be talking about scrapping it altogether rather than pushing this passion & enjoyment killing machine onto more who love football for what it is & should remain," a West Ham supporter said.

Right now, it doesn't seem to be possible to implement VAR in the Championship unless it can be introduced in the two tiers below, too, which doesn't look to be happening any time soon due to the financial aspect.

Even if it could, though, it seems that second-tier fans would rather see the general refereeing improve, or just roll with the decisions and hope they even out throughout the course of the 46-game season.