Accomplishing VAR protocols: Referee communication in a technologically mediated setting

This study explores how decision-making is collaboratively accomplished in Video Assistant Referee (VAR) protocols as a form of technologically mediated, high-stakes professional communication. Using 107 official VAR recordings from the 2024–2025 Turkish Football Federation season, including a mid-season shift from Turkish to English as a lingua franca (EFL), the analysis uncovers how on-field referees (REFs) and VAR officials reach consensus. Findings reveal that VAR–REF coordination unfolds through three sequential phases: (1) establishing recipiency, (2) framing evidence, and (3) closing the protocol. Turkish-language episodes are relationally rich, using honorifics (e.g. hocam) and kinship terms (e.g. abi) to expand sequences and manage disagreement while EFL episodes are procedurally concise and linguistically minimal, emphasizing clarity and progressivity. Across both settings, decisions emerge through coordinated talk, gesture, and embodied action. The study advances understanding of institutional interaction, multilingual teamwork, and technologically mediated judgment, highlighting how language shapes the organization of (dis)agreement in professional decision-making.