Prime Minister Burnham says VAR 'kills spontaneity' and jokes about banning it

Andy Burnham, the Prime Minister and lifelong Everton supporter, has renewed his criticism of VAR, arguing the system “kills spontaneity” at matches and has not delivered the fairer decision-making it promised — before joking he might add a ban to his next manifesto.

Speaking to LadBible, Burnham drew on his experience as an Everton season ticket holder last season to explain why match-going fans bear the brunt of the technology’s shortcomings. “Football, going to the match, is about those moments when the goal goes in and [everyone celebrates],” he said. “But then you do that, and it’s VAR checking the goal. And the thing was, you’d accept it if it got the decisions right, but it doesn’t get the decisions right.”

Burnham admitted he had initially hoped VAR would address what he perceived as a bias towards the Premier League’s biggest clubs. “I often believed that other clubs, bigger clubs, Liverpool, Man United, got decisions, whereas Everton, my club, didn’t,” he said. “I thought: ‘Oh well, VAR will level things up’, but it really hasn’t levelled things up in my view.”

His frustration is not without personal context. Everton received an apology from refereeing chiefs after being denied a penalty in a 1-0 defeat to Manchester City in 2022, a decision subsequently acknowledged to be incorrect.

When pressed on whether he could use his position to remove VAR from the game, Burnham was playful rather than serious. “Now you’re putting an idea in my head,” he said. “You’re writing my next manifesto.”

VAR has been a source of controversy in the Premier League since its introduction in 2019, with supporters, managers and players regularly questioning the consistency and transparency of its rulings. Burnham’s comments add a rare political dimension to the debate, even if his proposed remedy remains firmly tongue-in-cheek.

The Prime Minister has also recently found himself connected to a broader Premier League controversy following Manchester City’s guilty verdict on financial charges. Burnham, in his former role as Mayor of Greater Manchester, had dealings with the club’s Abu Dhabi ownership group, and those interactions are now under scrutiny.