The video assistant referee (VAR), introduced in August 2016 in a match between two major league soccer reserve sides, is perhaps the most-talked item in this World Cup.
Touted by football's highest decision making authority, The International Football Association Board, as 'minimum interference-maximum benefit technology,' the VAR is suppose to eliminate errors on the field. But it is triggering controversy off the field.
The most-recent use of VAR was the award to Australia the crucial penalty against Denmark in their match. The implementation of VAR in football hasn't been simple: plenty of refereeing decisions are made on individual perception of a situation and interpretation of the laws of the game.
But the ultimate aim of VAR is to improve the accuracy of officiating and write-off as many wrong decisions.
Agreed. It isn't a perfect system, but stats from 100 live matches state that rates of accuracy has increased incredibly from 93% to 95%. A major area of concern with the advent of the VAR is the time taken for decision to be made. It reportedly interrupts the very flow of the match. Unlike cricket, football is not exposed to such short breaks.
The 4 types of calls that can be reviewed are:
1) Goals and whether there was a violation during the buildup
2) Penalty decisions
3) Direct red cards
4) Cases of mistaken identity while awarding red or yellow cards
The original decision given by the referee will not be changed unless the video review clearly shows that the decision was wrong.
Only the referee can initiate a review; the VAR (and the other match officials) can only recommend a review to the referee. A player who uses the ‘review signal’ will be cautioned.
Each match will have one VAR and a team of three assistants given access to footage from 33 cameras, eight of which record in slow motion. If the team discovers an error, the VAR would then contact the referee on the field via an ear-piece, advising him either of an error, or that they should check a decision themselves. The referee can then act on that information immediately or choose to review footage on a pitch-side screen. In the second instance, the referee can either revisit the original decision or leave it untouched.
How Does VAR work?
STEP 1
Incident occurs
The referee informs the VAR, or the VAR recommends to the referee that a decision/incident should be reviewed.
STEP 2
Review and advice by the VAR
The video footage is reviewed by the VAR, who advises the referee via headset what the video shows.
STEP 3
Decision or action is taken
The referee decides to review the video footage on the side of the field of play before taking the appropriate action/decision,or the referee accepts the information from the VAR and takes the appropriate action/decision.