A new phenomenon which has recently graced us in the football industry
is the VAR (Video Assistant Referee). "This is a football assistant
referee who reviews decisions made by the head referee with the use of video
footage and a headset for communication. In 2018, VARs were written into the
Laws of the Game by the International Football Association Board (IFAB) following
trials in a number of major competitions. FIFA officially approved the use of
VAR for the 2018 FIFA World Cup during the FIFA Council meeting on 16 March
2018 in Bogotá. This tournament became the first competition to use VAR in full
(at all matches and in all venues)."
We have seen this phenomenon’s true colour in this year’s FIFA World Cup which was held in Russia between the 14th June till 15th July 2018. During this edition we have seen various decisions made by the referee of a particular game being reversed or omitted due to an intervention from the video assistant referee. The VAR acts as an aid to the referee and linesmen of a particular match in various situations where the officials might not have had a clear sight of the action or else misunderstood the situation. The video assistant referee receives instant images from various angles of the contact or of the situation at the moment and sees if something went wrong. He then contacts the referee to review that action in order to interpret better what had gone wrong.
There were and there still are many debates whether the VAR destroys the authenticity of football itself or if it actually is a very helpful tool. It has many pro’s and con’s but honestly throughout the 2018/2019 season we have seen many European domestic leagues adopt this innovative, decisive new tool and it has surely provided some intense moments which in my opinion made football an evenly fair and competitive sport more than before.
We have seen this phenomenon’s true colour in this year’s FIFA World Cup which was held in Russia between the 14th June till 15th July 2018. During this edition we have seen various decisions made by the referee of a particular game being reversed or omitted due to an intervention from the video assistant referee. The VAR acts as an aid to the referee and linesmen of a particular match in various situations where the officials might not have had a clear sight of the action or else misunderstood the situation. The video assistant referee receives instant images from various angles of the contact or of the situation at the moment and sees if something went wrong. He then contacts the referee to review that action in order to interpret better what had gone wrong.
There were and there still are many debates whether the VAR destroys the authenticity of football itself or if it actually is a very helpful tool. It has many pro’s and con’s but honestly throughout the 2018/2019 season we have seen many European domestic leagues adopt this innovative, decisive new tool and it has surely provided some intense moments which in my opinion made football an evenly fair and competitive sport more than before.
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