Controversial VAR to be used at World Cup
Video Assistant Referees ( VAR) are set to be used at this year’s-world Cup in Russia after the system was unanimously approved on a permanent basis at the International Football Association Board’s annual general meeting in Zurich.
Before making the decision, members of the game’s law- making body ( IFAB) were presented with the results of independent analysis of the use of VARS conducted by Belgian university KU Leuven since March 2016.
The football associations of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland had one vote each, while FIFA – representing all other national federations – had four, with six required for a change in the laws.
“As of today, video assistant referees are part of football and this is certainly very important news ,” said FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who chaired the meeting.
“Together with our colleagues we have taken some very important decisions. We had a very intense morning, fully aware of our responsibility to take an important decision for football.
“This topic was discussed and debated for decades. VAR is good for football, is good for refereeing, it brings more fairness in the game and, for these reasons, we have decided to approve VAR.”
Following the IFAB’S unanimous approval, it is almost certain that the FIFA Council will sanction the use of the VAR system at the World Cup when it meets in Colombia later this month, and Infantino is confident it will have a positive effect.
“Of course it will have an impact on the World Cup and on the matches, and it will have a positive impact on the matches, this is what the studies show,” he said.
“From t he 10 0 0 matches, approximately, that were part of the experiment, the level of accuracy of the decisions taken by the referees increased to 99%.
“It’s almost perfect. Perfection in our world does not exist, but VAR certainly gets us closer.
“I can guarantee our referees at the World Cup will be ready. They have trained for the last two years.”