Gary Lineker shares his huge VAR complaint after Newcastle vs Arsenal, ‘destroying the game…’

Football legend Gary Lineker has unleashed a passionate critique of the video assistant referee system following the dramatic Newcastle versus Arsenal clash, warning that the technology is “tearing the heart out of football.”

According to the former England striker, the game at St James’ Park once again highlighted everything wrong with VAR: endless delays, muddled communication, and decisions that left both players and supporters fuming. Lineker argued that what was meant to bring fairness is instead “suffocating the natural flow of matches” and eroding the joy that makes football the world’s most beloved sport.

He described the stop-start interruptions as a “spectacle killer,” pointing to how momentum was repeatedly broken while officials pored over marginal calls. For Lineker, the sport’s spontaneity—the very spark that fuels roaring stadiums and last-minute drama—is being stripped away by a system that still can’t guarantee absolute accuracy.

Fans across social media echoed his outrage, with many insisting that the Newcastle–Arsenal encounter proved VAR is not fit for purpose. Lineker’s message was clear: unless football authorities urgently rethink or radically reform the technology, VAR risks “destroying the game we all fell in love with.”