VAR set to be used in second tier matches by 2023
KEY goal decisions and red cards in Coventry City games could soon be checked by a Video Assistant Referee.
The EFL is waiting for approval from FIFA before introducing a Varlight scheme to the Championship.
The Premier League’s often-controversial VAR format would be too expensive to run and manage successfully in the lower leagues but ‘a low cost alternative’ is on the agenda to try to stop major blunders rather than tackle tight offside calls. The Professional Game Match Officials Ltd (PGMOL) has been in talks about introducing the system as soon as the 2023/24 season.
The technology company Dartfish has developed new systems involving four cameras which can be installed inside 45 minutes, stationed around the pitch. A live feed is then sent to a video assistant referee sitting in the stands while a touchline VAR monitor that would be used in the Premier League is replaced by an ipad.
EFL chairman Rick Parry said: “There are systems in place now that
I think it’s just common sense that if we want to achieve a significant lift upwards then the only way to do that is with technology.
Rick Parry
look genuinely quite exciting. If you look at the PGMOL statistics there is a clear gap now between the accuracy with VAR and the accuracy without and you probably can’t get beyond 90 per cent accuracy without.
“I think it’s just common sense that if we want to achieve a significant lift upwards then the only way to do that is with technology.”
VAR in the Premier League currently checks the following:
■ Goal/no goal – attacking team commits an offence, ball out of play, ball entering goal, offside, handball, offences and encroachment during penalty kicks. ■ Penalty/no penalty – attacking team commits an offence, ball out of play, location of offence, incorrect awarding, offence not penalised.
■ Direct red card – denial of obvious goal-scoring opportunity, serious foul play, violent conduct/biting/ spitting, using offensive/insulting/abusive language or gestures. All straight red cards are subject to review. Mistaken identity in awarding a red or yellow card.
VAR certainly divides opinion among fans and players.
Phil Jagielka, in his first season in the Championship with Sky Blues rivals Derby County and Stoke City after more than a decade in the Premier League, admitted that VAR was one thing he didn’t miss.
He said: “I’ve not played in the Championship for a little while and didn’t really know what to expect. Everyone always speaks about the difficulty of three-game weeks.
“But it’s really enjoyable, a different type of football. I’ve really enjoyed not having VAR for starters, I’m not a massive fan of that.”