Video Assistant Referee in football: all what you need to know about the new system of video replay
June 21, 2018 | 11:21 |2698
The 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia is the first major international football tournament to use the new video refereeing system VAR. It is still a new system, so both players and fans could be confused about how it is actually being used. On the one hand, this system can be very useful in matches, since the referee, despite the fact that he has several assistants, cannot always make the right decision, because in some moments he does not have the opportunity to see the details of incidents occurring on the field. On the other hand, many fans believe that this will destroy the atmosphere of the game, as criticism of the referee, along with beautiful goals, has always been the most interesting part of watching football.Arslan KEMALOV
There remain debates and disagreements about and there is still plenty of confusion about how the system actually works and what decisions video referees can decide on. So, what is a new system of video replay?
The Video Assistant Referee system, known as VAR, is football’s first use of video technology to reach decisions that are more correct and to help referees avoid making big, match-changing mistakes.
The system was trialled in England during the FA Cup last season. The experts improved the new system that the VAR at the World Cup will be much better than the early trials in England. The system has already been used in the 2018 World Cup group stage to correct and clarify decisions, including Diego Costa’s first goal against Portugal, France’s penalty against Australia as well as Sweden’s penalty against South Korea.
In the International Broadcast Centre in Moscow, there is a Video Assistant Referee room, which is the hub of all VAR operations during this year’s FIFA World Cup – no matter where the game is happening. The VAR team of one video referee, three his assistants and four videotape operators will watch the whole of each game. If they see something wrong, they can flag it to the referee; if the referee thinks something is wrong, he can get in touch with the VAR.
They receive a stream from inside the stadium, which is made up of the view from a whole host of thirty-three different cameras – including two slow motion ones for fixing offside – which the referees can flick between. The head referee uses a video footage and a headset for communication with the team of video assistant.
VAR only intervenes in the course of a match when the officials have made a ‘clear and obvious error’ in one of four key areas: goals (to check if a goal actually went in or if an infringement would have stopped the goal being rewarded), penalties (to check whether a penalty should have been awarded and wasn’t), straight red cards and mistaken identity.
The head referee decides to review the video footage on a pitch side screen 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. In this instance, the referee will draw a rectangle with his arms to replicate a TV a screen.
It should be noted that the VAR only advises what decision to take on any situation - the head referee always makes a final decision.
Since it is the first use of the new video refereeing system in such a large international competition, it is worth acknowledging that the system is still imperfect and requires improvements, but at some points, it really helps referees to make a correct decision that can significantly affect the results of the World Cup.
