November 8 – Despite growing doubts about the system’s efficacity, Video Assistant Referee (VAR) technology will be used for the first time in an official game in the UK during England’s prestige friendly against Germany at Wembley on Friday.
A two-year trial was approved by the International Football Association Board (IFAB), the game’s lawmakers, in 2016 with a number of leagues including the Bundesliga, Serie A and Major League Soccer experimenting with the system this season.
IFAB are due to discuss the situation again at their annual business meeting later this year or early next year with a view to making a further ruling at its main meeting next spring.
The technology can only review match-changing incidents relating to goals, red cards, mistaken identities and penalties and is only to be used “to correct clear errors and for missed serious incidents.”
FIFA president Gianni Infantino wants video technology to be used at next year’s World Cup but earlier this week the German Football Association (DFB) replaced its official in charge of VARs, Hellmut Krug, after a series of controversies and bad calls.
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