August 27 – With opinions over VAR increasingly diverging and yet more controversial cases in the English Premier League at the weekend, FIFA are reportedly probing the possibility of replacing linesmen with – wait for it – robots.
The video assistant referee system was only introduced this season in England and three weeks into the campaign has come under intense scrutiny.
According to unconfirmed reports, a specific department has now been created within FIFA to study the benefits of technology.
There has even been talk apparently, if and when VAR is proved foolproof, of assistant referees becoming a thing of the past if it decided that cameras and computers can do a better job.
“Will they replace referee assistants completely with cameras and computers ruling offsides and throw-ins? It could happen one day,” the paper quoted an unnamed insider as saying.
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