World Cup coaches gather in Sochi ahead of VAR decision
Football World Cup team coaches gathered in Russia on Tuesday ahead of a crunch decision on whether to introduce the VAR video replay system at this summer’s tournament.
The last meeting of the 32 participating nations before the June 14-July 15 global extravaganza comes with debate still raging about the controversial Video Assistant Referee technology, AFP reported.
UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin said on Monday that European football’s governing body would not use it in next season’s Champions League because “nobody knows exactly how it works yet”.
But global body FIFA has been pushing hard for VAR use in game-changing situations such as goals and penalty decision.
“I used to be skeptical about VAR but statistics now show 99 percent perfection,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino said earlier this month.
The ruling on whether to use VAR for the first time at a World Cup will be issued on Saturday in Zurich by the International Football Association Board (IFAB).
This means the two-day gathering in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi will leave teams none the wiser about how exactly the World Cup will be refereed.
Several of the big European leagues have started using VAR, to mixed reviews. Controversies have dogged calls made in England and Italy. The Sochi gathering is meant to give coaches a rundown about how the World Cup will be organized in Russia.
It represents a logistical challenge for both the hosts and teams because of the great distances they will have to travel between the 11 host cities.
Another worry is that some of the stadiums have still not been completed.
“We don’t want surprises,” Iran’s Portugese coach Carlos Queiroz told AFP before the start of the meeting.
“We don’t like surprises.” happy with Mancini or with Ancelotti – although [Ancelotti] seems to have removed himself from consideration.”
Gian Piero Ventura was fired in November after failing to qualify Italy for the World Cup. Luigi Di Biagio was promoted from the under-21 squad as an interim replacement.
Italy plays friendlies against Argentina and England next month and does not have a competitive match until the Nations League starts in September.
Conte coached Italy from 2014-16 and announced his move to Chelsea before Euro 2016.