Video referees take the field (or TV studio)

REFEREEING decisions in English club football could be overturned by video for the first time from tonight when it finally enters a brave new world of technology.

As revealed by The Daily Telegraph last month, this evening’s FA Cup thirdround tie between Brighton and Crystal Palace will stage the first live trial of Video Assistant Referees (VARS) in the country, with a view to rolling them out across the top tier next season.

The experiment will be the first of two this week, with Wednesday night’s Carabao Cup semi-final first leg between Chelsea and Arsenal having also been selected. But Mike Riley, head of professional football refereeing in Englandy, admitted the “biggest challenge” would be educating players, managers and fans that it was neither a panacea nor would it “sanitise” a sport in which debatable decisions are a key element. Sport: Pages 12-13