Ex-Chelsea and England star wants to 'bring back abusing the ref' and VAR gone

Wayne Bridge has reignited the debate over scrapping , stating it's time to "get back to abusing the referees".

The former England and left-back is one of many to have called for the removal of the Video Assistant Referee system from English football, which was introduced to the in 2019.

In the five years since its introduction, various parties have expressed their dissatisfaction with the system. recently voiced their concerns following , while lamented that sealed their defeat on Sunday.

Bridge has now joined the chorus of disapproval, taking a rather bold stand with regards to returning to abusing officials in the wake of decisions that he feels are still incorrect ones.

"I think for me, it's just the fact that they can go to VAR and still get it wrong. So that's why I just hate VAR. I absolutely hate it," Bridge told Arsenal legend David Seaman on the '' podcast, brought to you by .

"It's also when they slow it down and watch it in slow motion, and it can look worse than what it is. I like to think I wasn't a vicious player, and sometimes when a ref would give a foul.

READ MORE:

READ MORE:

"I would say: 'You know me, you know what I'm like as a player!' There's got to be a bit of common sense in there sometimes. I'm like, just scrap VAR because stuff still gets missed. Scrap it and just get back to abusing the referee! It gives the fans something to sing about.

"No, some of the refs are great and it's a hard job. I was asked to be a linesman [at my son's game] and I was like ‘no chance’. I'm not getting abused by the parents!"

Wolves officially put forward a proposal earlier this year to remove VAR from the Premier League. Their resolution, submitted in May, detailed nine reasons for their claim, including some of the issues Bridge mentioned such as the lengthy decision-making process.

Despite Bridge's call to normalise abusing match officials once more, the West Midlands club suggested that VAR has actually led to an increase in hostility towards referees and their colleagues. However, they were overwhelmingly outvoted 19-1, failing to garner support from any of their fellow clubs.

Ironically, Wolves find themselves at the bottom of not only the Premier League, with a single point after eight matches, but also at the base of the 'net score' VAR decisions table constructed by ESPN, indicating they have been the most negatively impacted by VAR decisions since 2019.

The broader debate over whether VAR should be scrapped has likely reached a point of no return, however, according to PGMOL chief Howard Webb, who believes that the errors resolved by the system outweigh the mistakes.

"It would be foolish to take away a tool that can remove clear errors from the game," Webb told BBC Sport. "Usually, we have seen around 100 situations rectified through the use of VAR. Why would you want to take that away and leave those errors in the game?

"I understand delays can cause frustration, but sometimes they are unavoidable when you are doing the job diligently. It protects the game from some clear errors and the thought of going into some big games without that facility there, I don't think many referees would want that."