World football lawmakers approve VAR for Russia World Cup
News & Trends •
afp25 footballs lawmakers on saturday approved video assistant referee technology var for this summers world cup in one of the biggest changes to the sport in years1 we came to the conclusion that var is good for football infantino told reporters shortly after ifab announced the decision1 he added that the final decision to use the technology at the world cup in russia will be made when the fifa council world footballs top decision-making body meets in colombia later this month1 we will hope and encourage the council to take a favourable decision infantino said voicing confidence that var will secure final approval1 ifab said in a press release that the decision represents a new era for football with video assistance for referees helping to increase fairness in the game1 var can only be used when there is doubt surrounding any of four key game-changing situations goals penalty decisions straight red cards or mistaken identity1 it has already been implemented in top european leagues including the german bundesliga and italys serie a along with tests in multiple other leagues1 spains la liga on friday began training officials ahead of the technologys expected introduction next season1 opinion is still divided players and managers have complained of referees being too eager to defer to technology while fans in stadiums have been left in the dark as to why decisions are being made1 uefa president aleksander ceferin said this week that european footballs governing body would not introduce var in next seasons champions league due to ongoing confusion surrounding its use1 the international football association board ifab meeting in zurich rubber-stamped a move already backed by fifas top brass including president gianni infantino1 that is an issue confronting major north american sports like baseball and american football where different forms of video replay have been in use for several years leading to renewed calls to shorten the length of games1 some sceptics also have reservations about implementing such a significant change at the world cup before all the kinks have been resolved at lower-profile competition1 but the desire to avoid disputed calls especially in a competition with such a large global audience tipped international football officials to support using var at this summers tournament in russia1 one iconic example that var could theoretically have prevented is diego maradonas hand of god goal that saw argentina beat england in the 1986 world cup1 for infantino international football had to ensure world cup officials have access to the same images as fans1 in 2018 we cannot anymore afford that everyone in the stadium and everyone in front of a tv screen can see within a few minutes on his phone whether the referee has made a big mistake or not and the only one who cannot see it is the referee he said last month1 representatives of the 32 teams that have qualified for the world cup meeting in the black sea resort of sochi this week voiced confidence that the expected var rollout would be a positive for the tournament1 this is the new life. this is modern life said iran head coach carlos queiroz1 it is obvious that football cannot go on with its eyes closed to the modern world1 others have voiced concern about video assistance slowing down the game and possibly breaking a teams momentum1