Uefa give approval for VAR system
– Video Assistant Referees will be used in the Champions League from the 2019/20 season and will also be introduced at the 2020 European Championship, Uefa said yesterday.
European football’s governing body revealed a decision had been taken at a meeting of their executive committee to bring in the technology, which will be used from the play-offs preceding the group stage of the Champions League.
Nyon
It will also be used in next year’s Uefa Super Cup and in the Europa League from the 2020/21 season.
In addition, it will be used in the finals of the new Nations League competition, but only from 2021.
Uefa’s move follows the use of VAR at the Fifa World Cup in Russia, when it was deemed largely to be a success.
“We’re confident that introducing VAR in August 2019 will give us enough
London
England manager Gareth Southgate has signed a new, improved contract that will pay him around £3 million over the next four years, according to reports this week.
Southgate led England to the World Cup semifinals in Russia earlier this year, but he was coy about his long-term plans when asked at the start of this season.
It was claimed Southgate might have been unsettled by the amount of scrutiny the England boss receives, leading to suggestions he might walk away when his present deal expired.
But now the 48-year-old, who time to put in place a robust system and to train match officials to ensure an efficient, successful implementation of VAR in the Uefa Champions League, the world’s flagship club competition,” Uefa president Aleksander Ceferin said.
Uefa were meeting ahead of the announcement later of the winning bid to host Euro 2024, with Germany and Turkey competing for the right to organise the tournament. – was already under contract until Euro 2020, will remain in charge through to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
The England manager’s new deal was rubber-stamped at a Football Association’s board meeting yesterday.
Southgate and the FA had been discussing improving the terms of his contract following England’s unexpected run to their first World Cup semifinal since 1990.
The former Middlesbrough boss was said not to be demanding a big pay rise.
But he was aware that former England bosses Fabio Capello, Sven-Goran Eriksson and even his predecessor Sam Allardyce all earned higher salaries.
Having taken the England job after Allardyce’s ignominious exit in September 2016, Southgate did enough to earn a permanent contract up until Euro 2020 by leading his country through their World Cup qualifying campaign.
Their run to the last four completely changed the perception of the national team at a time when fans had grown frustrated by decades of failure in major tournaments.
While Southgate was unable to lead England to their first title since the 1966 World Cup, their semifinal loss to Croatia didn’t spoil the positive mood around his squad.
Now that the deal has been signed, former England defender Southgate can concentrate on the Nations League fixtures, with trips to Croatia and Spain next on the agenda.
Meanwhile, Dan Ashworth is reportedly leaving the FA after six years to become Brighton’s technical director.
The 47-year-old has held the same role with the national governing body since 2012. –