ZURICH: The International Football Association Board (The IFAB) unanimously approved the use of video assistant referees (VARs) for the upcoming World Cup in Russia at its 132nd annual general meeting (AGM) that took place at FIFA’s headquarters here Sunday.
The landmark meeting, chaired by FIFA president Gianni Infantino, represents a new era for football with video assistance for referees helping to increase integrity and fairness in the game.
Prior to taking its decision, the members of The IFAB (the football associations of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, as well as FIFA, representing all other national football associations) were presented with the results of the independent analysis of the use of VARs conducted by Belgian university KU Leuven since the beginning of the VAR experiment in March 2016.
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 identity.
It has already been implemented in top European leagues including the German Bundesliga and Italy’s Serie A — along with tests in multiple other leagues.
