Emerging Technology VAR

The purpose of this project was for students to research and present to their peers in class an emerging technology.

By: David Lubona

• VAR or the video assistant referee, introduced by UEFA during the men’s world cup in Russia, is a system that uses video footage to help referees make accurate decisions during football games.

• VAR can only intervene in four specific situations where a clear and obvious error or serious missed incident might have occurred.

• A VAR team consists of a VAR official, who is usually a former or current referee, three assistant video assistant referees and a video replay operator.

• Before the VAR was introduced in the world of football, there was the goal-line technology.

• Goal-line technology is a technical tool that helps determine whether the whole ball has crossed the goal line in order for refs to give a goal or not.

•  Just like VAR, the goal line tech is very much still in use in today’s game throughout different leagues.

• VAR is important in today’s game in fixing mistakes and making better decisions.

• Unlike other sports like hockey or cricket, where the referee or players need to ask for video reviews for certain decisions, VAR continuously monitors play and automatically alerts the referee in case it deems that a wrong decision may have been taken during the course of a play.

•  VAR allows certain incidents to be reviewed by the main referee or by the VAR team, helping the correct decisions to be made.

• VAR disrupts the game. Whenever there is a potential goal or penalty, the referee has to pause the match and review the footage on a screen which forces fans and players to just wait around. Sometimes it takes minutes.

• VAR dehumanizes the game. VAR takes away from the element of unpredictability and detracts from the human element of the game, it added.

• As of February 2024, the Premier League claims that VAR has correctly intervened 57 times and made 20 errors in the 2023/24 season

• The latest Premier League statistics show before VAR was introduced, 82 per cent of refereeing decisions were correct. Now, since VAR was introduced, 96 per cent of decisions are correct.

• According to ESPN, VAR's problems are not limited to one league, and the relationship between VAR and the game is broken globally.

• VAR will be used at the 2026 men’s world cup.

The Semi-automated offside technology is a new technology that uses multiple cameras to track player movements and process data in real time to create a 3D offside line. When the technology detects an offside, it alerts the video assistant referee (VAR). 

• Olympic Channel. (2022, February 22). What is the VAR Retrieved from https://olympics.com/en/news/what-is-var-in-football

• Var (2022, January 25). Premier League Claims 96% of Referee Decisions are Correct, So What is the Future of Technology in Football? Retrieved from https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/13066177/var-premier-league-claims-96-per-cent-of-referee-decisions-are-correct-so-what-is-future-of-technology-in-football

• The Goal-Line Technology. FIFA. (n.d.). Retrieved November 8, 2022, from https://inside.fifa.com/technical/football-technology/football-technologies-and-innovations-at-the-fifa-world-cup-2022/goal-line-technology