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Football: VAR set for 2018 World Cup approval
ZURICH, March 3, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Football’s law-making body on Saturday
was set to approve the use of video assistant referee technology (VAR) at
this summer’s World Cup, overriding purists concerned about technology
disrupting the game.
The International Football Association Board (IFAB) meeting in Zurich is
widely expected to rubber-stamp the move already backed by FIFA’s top brass,
including president Gianni Infantino.
VAR can only be used when there is doubt surrounding any of four key game-
changing situations: after a goal, penalty decisions, after a straight red
card or in cases of mistaken identity.
It has already been implemented in top European leagues including the
German Bundesliga and Italy’s Serie A — along with tests in multiple other
leagues — but opinion is still divided.
UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin said this week that European football’s
governing body would not introduce VAR in next season’s Champions League due
to ongoing “confusion” surrounding its use.
Others have voiced concern about video assistance being used too often,
slowing down the game and possibly breaking a team’s momentum.
That is an issue confronting major North American sports like baseball and
American football, where different forms of video replay have been in use for
several years and where calls to shorten match length have risen.
— Access to information —
But the desire to avoid ferociously disputed calls — especially in high-
profile moments — appears to have tipped FIFA to support using VAR at this
summer’s World Cup in Russia.
One iconic example that VAR could theoretically have prevented is Diego
Maradona’s “Hand of God” goal that saw Argentina beat England in the 1986
World Cup.
For Infantino, who will be on hand Saturday for the IFAB announcement,
international football cannot allow anyone with a smart-phone having access
to better information than a World Cup referee.
“In 2018 we cannot anymore afford that everyone in the stadium and everyone
in front of a TV screen can see within a few minutes on his phone whether the
referee has made a big mistake or not, and the only one who cannot see it is
the referee”, he said last month.
“So if we can help the referee then we should do it,” he added.
Representatives of the 32 teams that have qualified for the World Cup
meeting in the Black Sea resort of Sochi this week voiced confidence that the
expected VAR rollout would be a positive for the tournament.
“This is the new life. This is modern life,” said Iran head coach Carlos
Queiroz.
“It is obvious that football cannot go on with its eyes closed to the
modern world.”
BSS/AFP/GMR/0949 hrs