By Andrew Warshaw
March 5 – FIFA president Gianni Infantino has re-iterated that there is a realistic chance video replays will be used at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, the most ground-breaking change in years in FIFA’s showpiece event.
Video assistance was introduced to support referees for “game-changing” decisions for the first time in a FIFA competition at the Club World Cup in Japan in December.
The four areas covered were disputed goals and penalties, red cards and cases of mistaken identity and although the system had its teething troubles, Infantino would like to see the technology fine-tuned in time for the World Cup.
Colombia’s Atletico Nacional denounced the so-called video assistant referee (VAR) technology after the first-ever penalty awarded under the system helped knock them out in the semi-finals while Spanish giants Real Madrid were also lukewarm about the idea even though they went on to pick up the trophy.
But speaking at a press conference following the annual meeting of the International Football Association Board, the game’s lawmaking body, at Wembley on Friday, Infantino said VARs were the way forward.
“I’m very confident. The signs are encouraging. The little hiccups we have seen are to do with the training of the referees, but they will be able to take decisions much faster when they use it more often,” he said.
“It is realistic for us (to use it at the World Cup) because of the experience we had in the Club World Cup last December in Japan. We have seen for the referee it is not a big change and they learnt very quickly.
“We will use it for sure in the Confederations Cup, the Under-20 World Cup and the Club World Cup. VAR is positive because it will allow the right decision to be taken in a game-changing circumstance.”
FIFA will test the technology with all the candidates to be World Cup referees before IFAB decides whether to give it the green light for Russia.
“Using VAR would not allow perfection in decisions but there are no negatives. Whenever it’s used you know the right decision will be taken,” said Infantino.
More than 20 countries and competitions have expressed interest to experiment with the VARs and Infantino added: “Anyone who wants to make these tests, it’s the more the better, the sooner the better.”
English Football Association chief executive Martin Glenn, who hosted the IFAB meeting, supports the move and said he hopes to introduce video technology in next season’s FA Cup from the third round onwards. He also confirmed that the VAR system would have corrected a pivotal decision in last Sunday’s League Cup Final when Southampton’s Marco Gabbiadini had an early goal wrongly disallowed for offside.
“The evidence of the testing is really encouraging. At the professional level in England, there’s no ‘if’. It’s not an ‘if’ it’s a ‘when’,” said Glenn.
The IFAB meeting also agreed to allow sinbins instead of yellow card offences but only in grassroots and youth football. And as part of a two-year trial, this season’s forthcoming FA Cup quarter-finals in England will allow for a fourth substitute to be used in extra time after the format was successfully used at last year’s Copa America and then the Rio Olympics.
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