Video reviews have changed the face of European soccer. One country is holding out

STOCKHOLM (AP) — As the Swedish league got underway this spring, yellow-and-black-clad supporters of Stockholm club AIK held up an enormous banner containing a long, vivid story about the dark forces of modern soccer conquering the world.

“The whole world? No!" read the words on the giant display. ”There was, in fact, a small area that successfully resisted the intruders, surrounded by modern football’s smoldering ruins.”

The intruder in this case is VAR — the high-tech video review system formally written into the laws of soccer in 2018 to help referees make the right calls in the biggest moments.

While most leagues around the world are now using this technology, Sweden is an outlier in holding out and, in its view, retaining the game in its purest form.

The Swedish league is the only one of Europe’s top-30 ranked leagues yet to have rolled out the system. It won’t be happening anytime soon, either.

“VAR is a symbol of modern, commercialized-to-the-point-of-destruction football,” says Ola Thews, vice-chairman of AIK’s largest supporter organization, ASK.

Thews is more than just a die-hard AIK fan. He played a part in mobilizing anti-VAR sentiment among Sweden’s top clubs and helped push through a motion at AIK opposing the introduction of the technology, before the Swedish soccer federation had the chance to bring it in.

That’s possible because Swedish clubs are majority-controlled by members — essentially, supporters — under a regulation that states members should control at least 50% of their club’s shares, plus one.

Although the federation initially appeared to want VAR in operation — the technology is, after all, used at European and international level — it will not go against the wishes of its member-run clubs. As a result, the federation has held off on further discussions about adopting VAR and said last week it doesn’t envisage any in the foreseeable future.

That’s a big win for Swedish match-going fans who are proud of their rebel status in European soccer.

No VAR. No out-of-touch American owners or oil money from the Middle East. A culture where fans matter.

Soccer as it should be, in their view.

VAR “ruins the euphoria” that soccer can bring, Thews says. "The absolute happiness and passion, or grief and sadness, that comes from a goal being conceded or a goal being scored if you’re not sure what has happened until it has been reviewed and decided in a VAR room.”

Compared to other sports, soccer is a latecomer to video replays. In the United States, the NFL introduced instant replays in the mid-1980s but scrapped the system in 1991 after widespread discontent. They returned in 1999 and have spread to other major North American leagues and international sports, such as cricket and rugby.

In soccer, pausing for video reviews can appear more disruptive. Not least because the VAR system has its imperfections.

In the English Premier League, a communications mix-up between the official running the video review and the on-field referee cost Liverpool a valid goal in a loss at Tottenham in October. Weeks later, a Tottenham-Chelsea match had a total of 21 minutes of stoppage time added on largely because of a raft of video reviews. Earlier this month, Nottingham Forest put out an inflammatory statement, questioning the integrity of a match official, after being denied what it perceived to be three clear penalty shouts overlooked by the video referee.

In Spain, Barcelona threatened legal action to force a replay after a VAR-related controversy in the recent “clasico” against Real Madrid.

Meanwhile, across the Swedish border in Norway, fans already unhappy at VAR being adopted by the country’s federation last year before its member-run clubs could establish a unified position have become increasingly disillusioned with the technology after just one season. In one match, it took seven minutes for VAR to decide on an offside call — FIFA's original vision was that it should take no more than six seconds.

“Throughout the season, after seeing VAR in full effect, opposition has grown a lot and there’s been a lot of disgruntled supporters, football staff and coaches, and players as well,” Anders Kjellevold, chairman of the Norwegian supporters’ alliance, told The Associated Press.

Kjellevold is looking at Sweden with some envy as Norwegian supporter groups begin the long process of attempting to remove VAR from their competitions.

“We try to take inspiration from Sweden — what they did, how they organized themselves to influence the clubs,” he said. “Even though we’re late in the process, we’re actually trying to do something similar.”

Sweden’s rather isolationist position on VAR has echoes of the country’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Sweden stood out in Europe, and much of the world, as it kept schools open and opted against lockdowns, relying instead on citizens’ sense of civic duty to protect the population.

A few years later and Sweden is again the odd one out, this time in soccer.

Svante Samuelsson, the sporting director of the organization running Sweden’s top leagues, recognizes that not having VAR could put the country’s referees and even players at a disadvantage when it comes to performing on the international stage.

Yet, Samuelsson also understands the importance of fans’ feelings.

“Swedish supporters are very influenced by the pictures from the Premier League, especially, and that kind of makes them even more sure that they are against VAR,” Samuelsson said at his office in Stockholm. “If there’s a goal, they want to know if it’s a goal immediately, and not have to wait for a decision afterward. It’s better for it to be wrong than to have to wait — that’s their logic.”

In England, according to figures given to rights-holder Sky Sports in February, 82% of refereeing decisions were deemed “correct” by the Premier League before VAR was adopted ahead of the 2019-20 season. Since VAR has been used, 96% of the decisions are correct, according to the league.

In Sweden, Martin Ingvarsson, the head of referees, keeps a log of all the obvious mistakes made by match officials in the top league, Allsvenskan. Ingvarsson told the AP that in each of the last two seasons there were 41 occasions when VAR would have intervened had it been in use.

That’s absolutely no problem for Thews.

“I think anything where you have actual real-life humans participating is going to be imperfect,” he said. “That’s the beauty of it.”

Bersant Celina, a midfielder for AIK, agrees.

“It’s the proper football way. It’s pure,” Celina told the AP. “Referees are also part of the game and they can make mistakes.”

Finding a pro-VAR opinion among the players or coaches in Sweden isn’t easy. It’s not exactly a good look to oppose your clubs’ members, after all.

So it’s among the fans where there is a healthier debate.

Hans Bolling and Nils-Olof Zethrin have been attending AIK games together for almost 30 years. They are finding their current conversations chiefly revolve around VAR, with each taking a different side.

“It’s good that we have been waiting a little bit, compared to other countries,” Zethrin said ahead of AIK’s match against Varnamo on a chilly evening last Tuesday in the Swedish capital. “But I think it’s a little bit strange to say ‘no’ to some kind of new technology when it’s developed in the right manner.

“You can’t just look back. You have to look in the future.”

Bolling, cradling a cup of coffee, smiled and proffered his own view.

“It destroys the flow of the game,” he said. “VAR is for the TV public, not for the stadium-going public.

“We don’t need it and, at AIK, we’ll never accept it.”

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Image taken from video of AIK fans watching the AIK against Värnamo Allsvenskan soccer match at the Friends Arena in Stockholm in Stockholm on April 24, 2024.Swedish soccer has adopted an isolationist stance in eschewing technology to retain a pure version of the beautiful game. Sweden is the only one of Europe's top-30 ranked leagues yet to have rolled out VAR in its domestic competitions. (AP Photo/Chisato Tanaka)

Image taken from video shows AIK fans celebrate after their team scored the first goal during the AIK against Värnamo Allsvenskan soccer match at the Friends Arena in Stockholm in Stockholm on April 24, 2024.Swedish soccer has adopted an isolationist stance in eschewing technology to retain a pure version of the beautiful game. Sweden is the only one of Europe's top-30 ranked leagues yet to have rolled out VAR in its domestic competitions. (AP Photo/Chisato Tanaka)

Image taken from video of Svante Samuelsson, the sporting director of the organization overseeing Sweden's top soccer leagues, shares his opinion on VAR at the headquarters of the Swedish Elite Football Association in Stockholm on April 24, 2024.Swedish soccer has adopted an isolationist stance in eschewing technology to retain a pure version of the beautiful game. Sweden is the only one of Europe's top-30 ranked leagues yet to have rolled out VAR in its domestic competitions. (AP Photo/Chisato Tanaka)

FILE - The display shows the VAR decision on a disallowed goal during the English Premier League soccer match between Everton and Arsenal at the Goodison Park stadium in Liverpool, England, Sept. 17, 2023. In England, according to figures given to rights-holder Sky Sports in February, 82% of refereeing decisions were deemed "correct" by the Premier League before VAR was adopted ahead of the 2019-20 season. Since VAR has been used, 96% of the decisions are correct, according to the league. (AP Photo/Jon Super, File)

FILE - A referee demonstrates a video operation room, a facility of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) system which will be rolled out for the first time during the World Cup, in Moscow, Russia, on June 9, 2018. VAR - the high-tech video review system formally written into the laws of soccer in 2018 to, in theory, help referees make the right calls in the biggest moments. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky, File)

FILE - Djurgården's fans protest against VAR during the Allsvenskan football match between Djurgården and IK Sirius FK at Tele2 Arena in Stockholm, Sweden, April 11, 2023. Swedish soccer has adopted an isolationist stance in eschewing technology to retain a pure version of the beautiful game. Sweden is the only one of Europe’s top-30 ranked leagues yet to have rolled out VAR in its domestic competitions. (Jessica Gow/TT News Agency via AP, File)

FILE - Referee Tobias Stieler calls a penalty for Benfica after consulting VAR during the Europa League round of 16, first leg, soccer match between SL Benfica and Rangers FC at the Luz stadium in Lisbon, March 7, 2024. Swedish soccer has adopted an isolationist stance in eschewing technology to retain a pure version of the beautiful game. Sweden is the only one of Europe's top-30 ranked leagues yet to have rolled out VAR in its domestic competitions. (AP Photo/Armando Franca, File)

FILE - Helsingborg IF's supporters protest against VAR during the Allsvenskan soccer match between Kalmar FF and Helsingborgs IF at Guldfågeln Arena in Kalmar, Sweden, Feb. 10, 2022. Swedish soccer has adopted an isolationist stance in eschewing technology to retain a pure version of the beautiful game. Sweden is the only one of Europe’s top-30 ranked leagues yet to have rolled out VAR in its domestic competitions. (Patric Söderström/TT News Agency via AP, File)

FILE - AIK's supporters hold a banner against VAR during the Allsvenskan soccer match between AIK and Västerås SF FK at the Friends Arena in Stockholm, April 1, 2024. Swedish soccer has adopted an isolationist stance in eschewing technology to retain a pure version of the beautiful game. Sweden is the only one of Europe’s top-30 ranked leagues yet to have rolled out VAR in its domestic competitions. (Jonas Ekströmer/TT News Agency via AP, File)

ANNAPOLIS, Md. (AP) — Republican Gov. Jim Justice won West Virginia’s GOP Senate nomination on Tuesday as voters across two states with antithetical politics decided primary contests with big implications for the Senate majority fight this fall.

In all, three states hosted statewide primary elections on Tuesday — Maryland, Nebraska and West Virginia — as Republicans and Democrats pick their nominees for a slate of fall elections. None were more consequential than Senate primaries in deep-blue Maryland and deep-red West Virginia, where Republicans are eying pickup opportunities that could flip control of Congress’ upper chamber for at least two years.

At the same time, Democratic President Joe Biden and Republican rival Donald Trump tried to project strength in low-stakes presidential primaries in all three states. Further down the ballot, two congressional candidates on opposite sides of the 2021 Capitol attack serve as a stark reminder that the nation remains deeply divided over the deadly insurrection.

Justice's won his primary against U.S. Rep. Alex Mooney in the race to replace Sen. Joe Manchin. With Manchin gone, the seat is almost guaranteed to turn red come November.

The Trump-endorsed Justice, a former billionaire with a folksy personality, is wildly popular in the state. He also earned Trump's endorsement. A former Democrat, Justice switched to the Republican Party in 2017, announcing the change at a Trump rally.

Mooney had tried to win over conservatives by labeling Justice a “RINO” — which stands for “Republican in name only” — who would support Democratic policies. Justice did support Biden’s bipartisan infrastructure law, saying West Virginia couldn’t afford to turn away the money offered in the bill.

At a polling place in West Virginia’s capital city, voter Steve Ervin said his votes Tuesday were directly related to Trump.

“I really did an exhaustive study of the sample ballot of who I believe supported Trump and Trump supported them,” said Ervin, who works in the state’s unemployment office. “That’s what I made my whole decision on.”

West Virginia is also deciding its candidates for governor. Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, the Republican nominee in the 2018 Senate race against Manchin, is running for the Republican nomination. He’s up against former state Rep. Moore Capito, whose mother is Sen. Shelley Moore Capito.

In Maryland, Republican former Gov. Larry Hogan expects to dominate the state's GOP Senate primary despite his years-long criticism of Trump, whom Hogan describes as a threat to democracy. The former two-term governor would be the blue state's first Republican senator in more than four decades.

On the Democratic side, Rep. David Trone has been locked in a contentious — and expensive — battle with Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks.

Trone, the co-founder of the Total Wine & More national liquor store chain, has put more than $61 million of his own money into the race. That's just shy of the national record for self-funding a Senate campaign, with much of it going to a months-long TV ad blitz. The three-term congressman says he’s better positioned to beat Hogan in November as a progressive Democrat not beholden to special interests.

Race has been an issue in the primary, with Alsobrooks working to become Maryland’s first Black U.S. senator. Trone apologized in March for what he said was the inadvertent use of a racial slur during a budget hearing.

Alsobrooks has been endorsed by many of the state’s top officials, including Gov. Wes Moore, Sen. Chris Van Hollen, Rep. Steny Hoyer and a long list of state lawmakers. She has campaigned on growing economic opportunity, investing in education and protecting abortion rights.

Biden and Trump have already amassed enough delegates to claim the presidential nominations at their respective national conventions this summer. Yet voters on both sides hope to register a significant protest vote Tuesday that will demonstrate their dissatisfaction with the Biden-Trump rematch.

Both Biden and Trump won their primaries in West Virginia and Maryland.

Still, Maryland progressives especially unhappy with the Biden administration’s support for Israel in its war against Hamas had encouraged voters to select “uncommitted to any presidential candidate” instead of Biden. There was no uncommitted option in West Virginia or Nebraska.

Everett Bellamy, a Democrat who voted early in Annapolis, said he voted “uncommitted” instead of Biden as a protest against the killing of women and children and noncombatants in Gaza.

“I wanted to send a message,” Bellamy, 74, said after leaving an early voting center.

Meanwhile, Trump's Republican critics cannot choose “uncommitted,” but they can choose his former GOP rival Nikki Haley, who will appear on the ballot in Maryland, Nebraska and West Virginia despite formally suspending her campaign more than two months ago.

Derek Faux, an independent voter from Charleston, W.V., said he supported Haley, and in other Republican races, he said he voted for the candidates he believed were least like Trump.

“I would rather see moderate, reasonable Republicans than some of the other folks,” said Faux, a librarian.

Tuesday's elections also include two candidates who were intimately involved in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

In West Virginia, a former member of the House of Delegates, Derrick Evans, is running for the Republican nomination in the 1st Congressional District. The 39-year-old Trump loyalist served a three-month jail sentence after livestreaming himself participating in the storming of the U.S. Capitol.

Evans is trying to oust incumbent Republican Rep. Carol Miller.

In Maryland, former Capitol Police officer Harry Dunn is among nearly two dozen Democrats running in the state's 3rd Congressional District. The 40-year-old Democrat was in the Capitol working to repel the violent mob on Jan. 6.

In Nebraska, Republican Sens. Deb Fischer and Pete Ricketts both face nominal opposition in their primaries, one of the rare occasions when both senators in a state are on the ballot at the same time. And in Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District, Republican U.S. Rep. Don Bacon faces a challenge from his right flank.

In North Carolina, voters finalized their pick of the Trump-endorsed Brad Knott in what had become a one-person Republican primary in the state's 13th Congressional District.

This story has deleted an incorrect reference to a California election being Tuesday. The California election is next week.

Willingham reported from Charleston, West Virginia. Peoples reported from Washington.

Follow the AP's coverage of the 2024 election at https://apnews.com/hub/election-2024.

FILE - U.S. Rep. David Trone, D-Md., speaks at a news conference Jan. 17, 2019, on Capitol Hill in Washington. Democrats voting in Maryland's contentious primary for U.S. Senate are divided about who is best positioned to beat Republican former Gov. Larry Hogan. Trone and Prince George's County Executive Angela Alsobrooks are the most prominent candidates in the Democratic primary. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, File)

FILE - Prince George's County Executive Angela Alsobrooks, center, listens during a bill hearing in Maryland, Jan. 23, 2020, in Annapolis, Md. Democrats voting in Maryland's contentious primary for U.S. Senate are divided about who is best positioned to beat Republican former Gov. Larry Hogan. Alsobrooks and Congressman David Trone are the most prominent candidates in the Democratic primary. (AP Photo/Brian Witte, File)

FILE - Former republican Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan visits the Bridge Boat Show in Stevensville, Md., April 12, 2024. Democrats voting in Maryland's contentious primary for Senate are divided about who is best positioned to beat Hogan. Congressman David Trone and Prince George's County Executive Angela Alsobrooks are the most prominent candidates in the Democratic primary. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

Primaries in Maryland and West Virginia will shape the battle this fall for a Senate majority

Primaries in Maryland and West Virginia will shape the battle this fall for a Senate majority

Signs are pictured outside an early voting center on Thursday, May 9, 2024, in Rockville, Md. President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump look to pad their delegate totals in Maryland Tuesday, May 14. Maryland voters will also decide contested primaries in a Senate race. Former GOP Gov. Larry Hogan's late entry into the race has given Republicans hope of a possible pick-up in a state that hasn't elected a Republican U.S. senator since 1980. The leading Democratic primary candidates are U.S. Rep. David Trone and Prince George's County Executive Angela Alsobrooks. (AP Photo/Robert Yoon)