The Virtual Assistant Referee (VAR) is a match official who reviews on-field decisions with video footage and advises the Referee in a tough call.
The Assistant Video assistant referee is an official appointed to help VAR. There are three officials: AVAR 1, AVAR 2, and AVAR 3. These officials monitor different parts of the pitch and constantly review calls that the Referee makes on their part of the game. The job of the AVAR1 is to watch the primary camera and communicate some of the more apparent fouls within the game. AVAR2 is located at the offside station and is responsible for assisting the VAR with offsides and telling the ref possible missed offside calls. The AVAR3 monitors the TV programs and assists in communication between the AVAR2 and the VAR since the AVAR2 is at the offside station.
VAR was officially implemented in March 2018 after the International Football Association Board (IFAB) excessively trailed in March 2018.
There are four categories of decisions that can be reviewed. [5]
- Goal/no goal – The attacking team commits a foul ball out of play, the ball entering the goal, offside, handball, other fouls, and rules broken during penalty kicks.
- Penalty/no penalty – The attacking team commits a foul, the ball is out of play, the location of the offense is incorrect, a penalty is awarded incorrectly, and the offense is not penalized by the referee.
- Direct red card – denying an obvious goal-scoring opportunity, a severe foul, violent conduct, biting, spitting, using offensive, insulting, abusive language or gestures.
- Wrongfully giving a card and awarding a red or yellow card.
If VAR is so good, why do most people want it removed?
Because many fans think there are overly excessive offside calls in VAR decisions where a player’s finger is offside, VAR changes the decision, which many believe isn’t necessary since it doesn’t affect the play.
Will VAR ever get abolished?
In the Premier League, Wolverhampton proposed removing VAR from all matches. Then, all the teams voted, and a majority wanted to keep VAR because the referee made a wrong on-field decision.
VAR was introduced to help the referee make on-field decisions because of the precision required to do the job. Even though many fans don’t like it, the game would also be worse without the referee getting any off-field help.
Related Stories:
https://www.premierleague.com/news/1293198
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_assistant_referee
https://refsix.com/news/a-short-history-of-var
https://www.wired.com/story/var-football-world-cup/
https://www.90min.com/posts/var-introduction-and-history-in-the-premier-league
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