June 15 – The Video Assistant Referee system (VAR) will be in use at the FIFA Confederations Cup in Russia as the trail of the system continues.
Earlier this week VAR was in the spotlight again with Raphael Varane’s controversial sending off in a friendly match against England. The French won the game 3-2, but VAR didn’t stop the debate about Varane’s sending off.
“It is impossible to always get a perfect answer [decision], because there are a lot of situations when the referee has to interpret,” said FIFA chief technical officer Marco Van Basten when questioned about the imperfections of VAR. “It is difficult to say it’s black or white. The decisions made by referees regarding goals, penalties and red cards are very high – never perfect, but is all about avoiding clear errors.”
“If the technology hadn’t been there (at the U20 World Cup in South Korea), it could have been a scandal,” added FIFA’s head of refereeing Massimo Busacca. “The honesty of the game is the most important message.”
It’s the third tournament this season in which FIFA is applying the VAR. Trials were also held at the Club World Cup in Japan and in South Korea. The system is designed to assist the referees in four situations: goals, penalties, red card incidents and player identity.
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