FIFA Referee: ‘Always there is room’ for improvements in VAR

Zurich. FIFA President Pierluigi Collina hailed the video evidence on the anniversary of the technology’s first use in an international match as “one of the biggest changes in football history”.

Video Assistant Referee (VAR) did not “herald” the end of football, “as was sometimes reported at the time. Instead, technology is now deeply intertwined with our sport and it is difficult to imagine football without VAR technology,” the Italian wrote (62) In a FIFA statement.

VAR was used on 1 September 2016 in the friendly match between Italy and France (1:3) in Bari. “I remember sitting in a truck outside the stadium in Bari with the newly elected FIFA President Gianni Infantino,” Collina wrote. Things went “smoothly” and, almost two years later, the video guide was also used at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

Video proof should be faster

Technology ensured “more equity in football games”. But “it is understood that people need time to understand and appreciate,” the former world-class referee wrote. There is “always room for further improvement. We understand that. We know that sometimes it takes a long time to make a final decision and we need to speed up that process.”

Semi-automated offside lines will be used at the Qatar World Cup later this year. Video match officials automatically receive footage of all offsides. In addition, a new graphic visualization will be shown on TV and in stadiums to give fans a better understanding of the decisions made,” said Collina. “This technology also makes VRA more accurate, thanks to a ‘connected ball’ that records the exact moment the ball is released and a detection system who knows the exact location of the players.”

© dpa-infocom, dpa: 220901-99-595016 / 2 (dpa)