Video review creates drama, confusion at Women’s World Cup

Paris — Video review has created confusion at the Women's World Cup.

The Video Assistant Referee, or VAR, was integrated into the men's World Cup in Russia last year, leading to calls for it to also be used for the women's tournament in France. But it certainly hasn't gone as smoothly as it did for the men.

VAR has already led to a change in the rules for the knockout stage of the tournament.

Some have suggested there has been an overreliance on the technology, and there have been complaints that it is causing delays and interrupting the flow of the game.

FIFA officials insisted Wednesday that the system is working as intended.

"The VAR cannot be blind, cannot ignore. If you have a tool that offers you the possibility to check, you have to check," said Pierluigi Collina, chairman of FIFA's refereeing committee.

Frequent use

Through 44 matches at the Women's World Cup, there were 441 incidents checked through the course of play and 29 VAR reviews, FIFA said. That's one review per 1.52 matches. Of those reviews, 25 resulted in decisions being changed. Four were confirmed.

There have been a record 23 penalty kicks heading into the quarterfinals, surpassing the 22 taken across the entire 2011 World Cup in Canada. Eleven were awarded with VAR assistance. Three were cancelled after VAR review.

Collina maintains that VAR helps referees by making sure calls are correct in the high-pressure setting of the World Cup while also protecting teams from bad calls that might impact advancement in the tournament.

Kari Seitz, FIFA's senior manager of refereeing, insisted VAR is not changing the way games are being officiated.

"We instruct the referees to referee as they would referee (without VAR), and that is really a critical point. They are out there officiating like they would officiate with or without VAR. That hasn't changed. Refereeing remains the same, but with the parachute, with the opportunity to correct those big mistakes, or those things the video evidence shows us," Seitz said.

Last week, the use of VAR prompted a rules change going into the round of 16. FIFA received approval from the game's lawmaking body to suspend a rule adopted right before the World Cup for penalty shootouts.

The rule was meant to give goalkeepers more flexibility, making them keep just one foot, not two, on the goal-line during penalty kicks. But the use of VAR strictly enforced the rule, with goalkeepers given little time to adjust. FIFA feared more goalkeepers could be penalized and sent off, which was a concern because no substitutes are allowed during shootouts.

The International Football Association Board granted the temporary dispensation Friday which means goalkeepers can only be booked at the tournament for stepping off the line during a penalty kick in normal time.

But the law could be revisited at future meetings of the IFAB, which includes four FIFA delegates and a representative from each of the four British associations.