Infantino sticks by VAR decision and maintains pressure for 2018 World Cup debut

By Andrew Warshaw

February 27 – Gianni Infantino says he has had no second thoughts about using video assistant referees (VAR) at the World Cup despite a string of  controversial incidents that have called into question how effective the system is.

Football’s law-making body, the International FA Board, is expected to decide on Saturday to authorise VARS on a permanent basis

Infantino’s UEFA counterpart Aleksander Ceferin said on Monday he would not allow VARS to be used in next season’s Champions League because he was not convinced teething troubles had been ironed out

But Infantino says there is irrefutable evidence that the system, under which match referees consult an official monitoring the game in a studio and which has been trialled in a number of countries over the past two years, works well.

“The facts are that from almost 1,000 matches which were tested, the accuracy rate of the referees went up from 93% to 99%,” he was quoted as saying.

There are nagging concerns about the length of time it takes for decisions to be rubber-stamped or overturned with fans left bemused as to what’s going on.

But on the sidelines of the UEFA Congress in Slovakia, Infantino said VARs had greatly reduced incorrect game-changing moments and that FIFA had a moral obligation to use video technology in Russia this summer.

He told reporters: “We have to base decisions on facts and not feelings. If we, or I, can do something to make sure that the World Cup is not decided by a referee’s mistakes, then I think it’s our duty to do it. Much more time is wasted on throw-ins or free-kicks, rather than on correcting a potentially wrong decision with VAR, so I’m still very positive.”

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