Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
PSYCHOLOGY OF SPORT & EXERCISE, cilt.80, sa.1, ss.1-31, 2025 (SCI-Expanded)
Video Assistant Referee (VAR) is a technology that has been used in various national and international organizations since 2018 to minimize the effect of critical decisions made by referees during the match on outcome of the game. The main purpose of this system is to ensure justice, and this study aims to investigate the effect of VAR in matches played between strong teams and weak teams. For this purpose, the data of a total of 3,329 matches (pre-VAR, 4 seasons and 1,224 matches and after-VAR, 6 seasons, 2,105 matches) played in the Turkish Super League, where the teams called the Big 4 are in a very strong position (economic, media, number of fans, etc.) compared to other teams, were analyzed. The results of the study, in which various statistical comparison analyses, multiple ordinal regression and relative odds ratio values are used, show that the home advantage of the Big 4 decreased after VAR and contrary to the literature, the home advantage of the weaker teams increased. Moreover, it is found that the home advantage decreases more in derby matches compared to other matches. The results of the study clearly show that VAR has a different effect on matches with different characteristics. The results of the research can help to better understand the effect of VAR on professional football and may also help referees to optimize their refereeing strategy in matches between teams of different strengths.