Norwegian Cruise: No VAR Spotted Up and Down the Coast

Norway is regularly listed among the "happiest countries in the world." It is one of the wealthiest too, and its not a country with revolutionary fervor. It’s not France. It’s not even Germany. Yet the Video Assistant Referee, known widely as VAR, has raised Norwegians' hackles. Organized fans have mobilized enough, and in enough forms, that the country's two professional leagues recently cast a majority vote to scrap VAR  - a testimony not only to true concern about the impact of VAR on games, a concern that I share, but also to the significant improvement in the quantity and quality of Norwegian soccer fanculture. It has made considerable strides in the land of skiing and handball over the last 10, 15 years. Why, and what to look for, in Norway's stadiums?

I talked to Matt Guerney from England and Anker from Norway, who run the biggest Englishspeaking social media channel on Norwegian football to find out more - about the conflict around the VAR; but also more broadly: what cities and local cultures does the 1st league include, what derbies are there and why, the rise of organized Ultra groups in the last 10,15 years. 

HELPFUL LINKS FOR THIS EPISODE:

Football Norway's X threads on the recent vote, the protests (fishcakes!) last season; thread on fan activities last Summer with lots of photos

ESPN covers the Norwegian VAR dispute

A recent brief news report about the leagues' vote on foot.mundo

Nordic Stadiums with a list of stadiums, and a little groundhopping guide

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Artwork for The Assistant Professor of Football is by Saige Lind

Instrumental music for this podcast, including the introduction track, is by the artist Ketsa and used under a Creative Commons license through Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Ketsa/