June 26 – Refereeing at the Women’s World Cup has been under severe scrutiny with VAR and other interventions wrecking the natural rhythm of the game, but FIFA’s head of referees Pierluigi Collina has shrugged off the storm of criticism, saying that the tournament is not “an experiment” for new rules using the VAR.
By Andrew Warshaw
A new rule agreed by football’s lawmakers in the spring which gained little publicity at the time has suddenly burst into controversy within days of taking effect and threatens to cause widespread consternation across the game.
June 20 – Argentina pulled off an unprecedented women’s World Cup fightback from 3-0 down to draw 3-3 with Scotland on Wednesday with a twice-taken stoppage-time penalty courtesy of the video assistant referee system which ultimately broke the Scots’ hearts as they were eliminated in cruellest of circumstances.
June 18 – After the shambles surrounding the use of VAR at CAF’s Champions League final the confederation has chosen Mediapro as the provider responsible for VAR at the African Cup of Nations that runs June 21 to July 19.
April 1 – Former UEFA president Michel Platini, who always resisted extending goalline technology to other forms of scientific aids for referees, has once again waded into the debate over the video assistant refereeing system, partly blaming the media for its implementation.
March 15 – Neymar is under investigation by UEFA for comments the Brazilian superstar made after Paris St. Germain’s Champions League defeat by Manchester United last week.
March 8 – Faced with a barrage of adverse reaction to highly controversial video assistant referee decisions that proved pivotal in this week’s Champions League last-16 ties, UEFA have been quick to provide a detailed explanation of why the various calls were made – along with images to support their case.
March 5 – The FIFA panel overseeing preparations for the Women’s World Cup on Monday has recommended the use of the video review technology to help referees at the finals in France this summer, paving the way for the FIFA Council to ratify VAR next week.
February 22 – The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) will present a number of measures to the technical council of its top league clubs to “advance” Brazilian football. They include adopting VAR in the Serie A, limiting the number of managerial changes and the introduction of a Brazilian Super Cup in 2020.
By Samindra Kunti
February 21 – The newly arrived video refs were in the spotlight once more in the Champions League last night as both the Schalke 04 vs Manchester City and Atletico Madrid vs Juventus matches were punctuated by VAR incidents.
February 15 – Despite a hugely controversial offside call at Ajax that went Real Madrid’s way and could have changed the outcome of the game, the Video Assistant Referee system “worked perfectly” at all stadiums that hosted first leg games in the last 16 of the Champions League this week, according to UEFA’s chief refereeing officer Roberto Rosetti.
February 14 – The video assistant referee system made its eagerly anticipated Champions League debut in the last-16 this week – and immediately caused huge controversy.
February 7 – With VAR set to make its Champions League debut in next week’s last-16 clashes, UEFA’s refereeing chief Roberto Rosetti (pictured) has stressed it must be used sparingly.
February 5 – At last year’s World Cup in Russia FIFA president Gianni Infantino said that it would be “difficult to think about the World Cup without VAR”, but it remained unclear if he was also referring to the women’s game.
February 4 – A 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup referees workshop is being held in the Aspire Zone in Qatar for the next 12 days.