The helping hand of instant replay will finally be making its way to the highest level of football.
The International Football Association Board (IFAB) and FIFA have come together to give permission to six competitions around the globe to experiment with video assistant referees (VARs). The competitions include:
– Australia: Hyundai A-League
– Brazil: Several competitions under the CBF
– Germany: Bundesliga
– Netherlands: Several competitions under the KNVB
– Portugal: Liga NOS, Portuguese Cup and Super Cup
– United States: Major League Soccer
During the experiments, the VARs system will be working on its own so they can assess video replays and practice making calls without communicating with the referee. Once all of the participating competitions have completed their preparations, they will start to do live experimentation, which is not expected to start until the 2017-2018 season. Included in the use of live testing will be the 2016 Club World Cup in Japan in December of this year in hopes to improve the technological set-up and help train the participants.
“The IFAB believes the best way to answer the question of whether the use of VARs will improve the game is to test it in different regions, so we are delighted to already have competitions across four confederations sign up. The organisers of these competitions can now begin installing and testing video replay facilities as well as training match officials and technical staff in line with the protocol and in consultation with The IFAB and FIFA’s Football Technology Innovation Department,” said IFAB Secretary Lukas Brud on FIFA.com.
Here’s how the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) will work when it is eventually introduced by FIFA. pic.twitter.com/DZoB5yHqid
— Deji Kofi Faremi (@deejayfaremi) March 6, 2016
The idea of using video replays in soccer has previously worried teams and fans due to the possibility of disrupting the games. Even so, the demand for accurate refereeing has begun to overshadow these concerns.
Soccer has had another high-tech improvement through a company called Hawk-Eye, which was officially introduced during the Copa America. The system consists of 14 high-speed cameras (seven for each goal) to track the exact location of the ball as it crosses the goal line.
We hope the introduction of these new technological additions will help improve the game and decision making while being able to keep the integrity and flow of the game similar to what fans around the globe have been enjoying.