Football has been transformed by the use of VAR, which stands for ‘Video Assistant Referee’ and involves the use of technology to review decisions made by match referees.
The global football community debated the pros and cons of using technology to assist with decision-making during matches, and the introduction of VAR in the past few years has prompted a mixed reaction across the game.
The 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar will propel VAR onto the game’s biggest stage for the second time, with further debate about its implementation inevitable.
Before the tournament begins, it is worth taking stock of VAR’s history in the game and the plans that have been put in place to ensure it runs smoothly in Qatar.
What is VAR in football?
There are four situations in which video assistant referees can be used during the course of a football match. The VAR may assist the referee only when a clear and obvious error or serious missed incident occurs in relation to the following:
- Goal/no goal
- Penalty/no penalty
- Direct red card (not a second yellow or caution)
- Caes of mistaken identity (when the referee sends off the wrong player)
In all of the above scenarios, VAR can only be used after the match referee has made an initial decision, meaning that the referee cannot defer to VAR after making no decision. However, VAR may be used to check that a referee's decision to allow play to continue was correct.
The final decision is always made by the referee, either based on information provided by VAR, or after the referee has carried out an on-field review of the incident in question.
VAR is only allowed to be used in situations where the organiser of a match or competition has received written permission from FIFA and has fulfilled the requirements of FIFA’s Implementation Assistance and Approval Programme (IAAP).
MORE: FIFA's new semi-automated offside technology and how it will work in the 2022 World Cup
Who are VARs at the World Cup?
The 2022 FIFA World Cup is only the second edition of the tournament to use VAR, following its successful debut in Russia four years earlier.
A total of 36 referees, 69 assistants and 24 video match officials will take charge of the 64 matches at the World Cup, with all six FIFA confederations represented.
The VAR officials selected for the 2022 World Cup are as follows:
- Abdulla Al Marri (QAT)
- Julio Bascunan (CHI)
- Muhammad Bin Jahari (SGP)
- Jerome Brisard (FRA)
- Bastian Dankert (GER)
- Ricardo De Burgos (ESP)
- Shaun Evans (AUS)
- Drew Fischer (CAN)
- Marco Fritz (GER)
- Nicolas Gallo (COL)
- Leodan Gonzalez (URU)
- Fernando Guerrero (MEX)
- Alejandro Hernandez (ESP)
- Massimiliano Irrati (ITA)
- Redouane Jiyed (MAR)
- Tomasz Kwiatkowski (POL)
- Juan Martinez (ESP)
- Benoit Millot (FRA)
- Juan Soto (VEN)
- Paolo Valeri (ITA)
- Paulus Van Boekel (NED)
- Mauro Vigliano (ARG)
- Armando Villarreal (USA)
- Adil Zourak (MAR)
MORE: FIFA World Cup 2022 – complete list of officials, VARs and referee assistants
What is the new VAR offside technology?
FIFA has approved new technology powered by artificial intelligence that should speed up the decision-making process when it comes to offside calls at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
Semi-Automated Offside Technology (SAOT), which has been in use throughout the Champions League group stages in 2022-23, is an extension of the VAR system and uses 12 dedicated cameras to track the on-pitch positions of each player.
In the event of an offside decision, 29 data points of each player involved in the incident are relayed to video match officials who manually check the automatically-created offside line based on the players’ positions to ensure the decision is accurate.
The animations produced by SAOT will be broadcast inside World Cup stadiums and will be available to all broadcast partners to display to fans watching on TV.
The technology was used successfully during the FIFA Arab Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup in 2021, producing more accurate offside decisions in a shorter period of time.
MORE: Offside rule for dummies: how it works and why referees still make mistakes
Where are VARs located at World Cup 2022?
VARs will be located in a video operation room (VOR) at each of the eight World Cup venues in Qatar.
The VARs located in each VOR will benefit from the enhanced match ball technology in use at the World Cup. The ‘Al Rihila’ match ball contains an inertial measurement unit sensor inside it, positioned at the very centre of the ball.
This sensor sends ball data to the VOR 500 times per second, allowing VARs to accurately monitor the position of the ball when making decisions.
