Collum’s 5300 mile journey to watch TV
WILLIE COLLUM will fly more than 5300 miles to watch the FIFA Under-20 World Cup on telly.
The Scots whistler has been appointed as a Video Assistant Referee (VAR) for the tournament which takes place in South Korea from May 20 to June 11.
It will be a historic event with Collum helping to trial the system for the first time in an international FIFA competition.
The VARs will be given access to all broadcast feeds inside an operations room which will enable them to provide information to the ref on the field of play to correct clear mistakes in “match-changing” situations.
Collum will be able to use the powers of technology to intervene on incidents including goals, penalty decisions, direct red cards and mistaken identity.
The VARs will also play a supporting role alongside the assistant referees and the fourth official – but the whistler on the pitch will still take the first, as well as the final, decision.
Collum said: “I’ll be utilised to help rectify major errors in the game and improve the standard of decision making.
“There’s a demand for some kind of technology in football so I hope these trials are successful.
“I’d imagine IFAB and FIFA will make a decision quite early in 2018 with the hope of using VARs at the World Cup in Russia.”